music  liL 


UC-NRLF 


B    3    fiEfl    flfil 


\ 


GERMAN 


THK 


TE  SCHOOL 


»F  TliK 


'Y  OF  ILLINOIS 


fNE    1908 


•xAv  ;:k^^ 


\ 


THE  NIBELUNGEN  OF  WAGNER 


BY 


KATHERINE  ALBERTA  W   LAYTON 


THESIS 
Submitted  in  Partial  Fulfillment  of  the  Requirements  for  the 

Degree  of 

DOCTOR  OF  PHILOSOPHY 

IN   GERMAN 


IN    THE 


GRADUATE  SCHOOL 


OF  THE 


UNIVERSITY   OF  ILLINOIS 


JUNE    1908 


Copyright  1909 
By  the  University  of  Illinois 


^ 


CONTENTS 


£) 


Preface 

Introduction 7 

1.  Rheingold n 

2.  Walkuere I9 

3.  Siegfried 3I 

4.  Goetterdaemmerung 4g 

Conclusion , 7q 


Vita. 


73 


239407 


PREFACE 

The  following  chapters  are  from  a  somewhat  more  exten- 
sive study  made  by  the  writer  on  the  general  subjects  of  "The 
Nibelungen  of  Wagner,  Fouque,  Raupach  and  Hebbel."'  The 
work  was  started  under  the  advice  and  direction  of  the  late  Pro- 
fessor Gustav  E.  Karsten.  When  his  untimely  death  deprived  the 
writer  of  his  help,  Professor  O.  E.  Lessing  undertook  the  task  of 
adviser,  and  the  work  was  finished  under  his  direction.  The  wri- 
ter is  indebted  also  for  help  to  Professor  N.  C.  Brooks  and  Dr. 
•Joseph  Wiehr. 

Katherine  Layton. 


^ 


'  /) 


'^^: 


INTRODUCTION 

Tho  the  literature  upon  Wagner's  Nibehingen  Ring  is  so  ex- 
tensive that  it  seems  almost  preposterous  to  add  anything  more, 
yet  we  find  that  most  critics  have  approached  it  in  the  spirit  of 
worshipers  or  of  bitter  enemies,  or  if  they  have  chosen  a  niore 
moderate  course  have  not,  as  a  rule,  made  the  minute  examina- 
tion of  details  that  I  have  attempted.  Some  critics  approach 
the  subject  from  the  standpoint  of  mytholog}'  and  praise  or  con- 
demn everything  from  that  point  of  view.  Others  consider  the 
central  thought  of  the  story  and  accept  the  incidents  as  bearing  it 
out,  without  always  considering  whether  that  is  really  the  case 
or  whether  the  means  to  it  are  dramatic  or  epic  in  their  mode  of 
development — or  even  consistent  from  any  point  of  view. 

Drews'  metaphysical  interpretation  is  ingenious  and  on  the 
whole  impartial.  He  recognizes  the  combined  influence  of  Feuer- 
bach,  Hegel  and  Schopenhauer  (as  Lichtenberger  represents  his 
view  of  life  as  a  combination  of  optimism,  pessimism,  Greekism 
and  asceticism)  and  notes  consequent  discrepancies;  but  on  the 
whole  he  regards  Wagner  as  a  marvelous  intuitive  philosoplier. 
He  reduces  the  characters  to  mere  abstract  terms,  however,  ^at- 
tempting to  justify  the  drama  from  the  standpoint  of  philoso- 
phy with  more  or  less  success,  but  his  arguments  do  not  justify 
the  Tetralogy  as  a  work  of  art,  nor  do  his  explanations  make  the 
characters  more  appealing,  it  seems  to  me. 

Chamberlain  {Das  Drama  Richard  Wagners  p.  113)  in- 
sists upon  the  dramatic  progress  of  the  tragedy  of  soul,  but  while 
he  explains  some  passages  very  well,  he  hardly  seems  to  me  to 
make  clear  the  dramatic  progress  of  the  whole.  If  the  drama  is 
not  one  of  action,  nevertheless,  those  actions  that  occur  sliould 
be  consistent  with  the  characters  and  with  each  other — witli  the 
general    plan — instead   of   keeping   ns   in   chaos.      His   explana- 

'cf.    Der  Ideengehait  von  Wagner's  Ring  des  NibeJungen.  55-56  ff. 

(131) 


8 

tion  of  musical  motivation  (pp.  104 '5)  as  also  that  of  Laviguac, 
stM'iiis  to  mo  to  be  merely  (Icsci-ijitive  without  exi»lainiiig  the 
"how" — it  is  coiitemporaneoiis  with  the  action  and  docs  not  show 
a  causal  relation,  tho  it  may  j>roduce  atmosphere  or  perhaps  call 
up  a  series  of  ])ictures.  I  refer  to  such  a  series  of  motifs  as: 
"jealousy,"  'fear"  or  the  "curse  motif"  (cited  by  Lichtenberger, 
J).  331*,  in  h'ichtinl  Wagiicr  als  Dichtcr  und  Denkcr)  introduced, 
for  example,  upon  Siegfried's  arrival  at  court,  which  furnishes 
only  a  kind  of  romantic  motivation,  or  atmosphere. 

Without  any  preconceived  notion  of  what  the  result  was  to 
be,  I  have  tried  to  examine  the  details  minutely  to  see  what  the 
investigation  would  bring  forth.  ^ly  point  of  view  lias  been  pure- 
ly that  of  dramatic  development,  excluding  any  ccmsideration  of 
music — a  jxiiut  of  view  that  may  seem  unfair  to  Wagner  but 
grants,  nevertheless,  his  musical  genius.  Some  critics  admit  that 
his  work  has  not  literary  value  aside  from  the  music,  but  not  all 
critics  do  so,  and  Wagner  himself  in  his  EinlcHunq  zu  ciner  Vor- 
Icsung  der  Goetterdactnmerunr/  wished  to  submit  it  to  the  tests 
of  a  piece  of  literature,  or  rather  even  of  a  drama. 

I  have  tried  to  be  as  objective  as  possible,  attempting  to  de- 
cide whether  Wagner  really  attained  tht  results  he  desired.  I 
have  not  read  into  the  operas  things  contained  in  mythology-  or 
elsewhere  or  accepted  things  as  dramatically  justifiable  because 
they  are  in  mythology  or  form  a  ]>art  of  Wagner's  philoso])hy, 
ivithout  having  sufficient  reason  or  organic  development  within 
the  drama  itself.  Adverse  criticism  has  in  cases  been  i)ainful  to 
me,  but  I  have  not  avoided  it,  if  it  seemed  the  fair  (me.  After  all, 
Wagner's  fame  rests,  or  should  rest,  upon  his  music  rather  than 
up<m  his  literary  efforts.  As  a  i)erfectly  uncritical  reader,  some 
years  ago,  before  the  Northern  mythology  was  at  all  familiar  to 
me.  I  perused  the  Tetralogy  as  a  story  and  felt  that  some  new 
sources  of  iiifoi-niatioii  concerning  the  old  story  in  the  Xilniinu/cn 
fJrd  were  opened  to  me.  I  found  the  muxe  and  sunny  character 
<»f  Siegfried  particularly  pleasing  and  the  rcdation  between  Wotan 

(132) 


and  Briinnhilde  lending  new  charm  and  comprehension  to  the 
story.  I  was  at  that  time,  however,  often  baffled  in  interpreting 
or  following  the  development  of  the  story,  and  find  the  same  fact 
is  true  after  close  study  of  the  dramas  and  considerable  reading 
of  mythology  and  of  critics.  If,  however,  the  work  is  to  stand 
as  an  effective  drama,  it  should  do  so  without  necessitating  resort 
to  mythology  or  any  outside  research.  It  should  not  lack  clear- 
ness and  simplicity — consistency. 

The  test  that  I  have  applied  for  the  most  part  lias  been  that 
of  dramatic  motivation,  without  consideration  of  other  poetical 
or  non-poetical  qualities.  By  motivation  I  mean  the  dramatic 
development  of  action  and  of  character  from  cause  to  effect,  with 
the  interdependence  and  interaction  of  character  and  circum- 
stances or  events,  requiring  the  characters  to  be  a  logical  or  con- 
sistent development,  or  at  least  to  seem  psychologically  probable. 
The  action  must  spring  from  the  characters.  It  may,  for  example, 
be  a  matter  of  doubt  whether  Siegfried  is  always  as  naive  as  his 
environment  would  lead  one  to  expect.  We  find  also  tliat  Wag- 
ner resorts  to  miracles  or  to  the  interference  of  a  god  when  the 
desired  results  cannot  be  developed  from  the  course  of  events  or 
from  the  characters.  Perhaps  you  may  say  that  a  god  can  make 
things  to  suit  himself,  but  the  actions  of  a  character  should  seem 
natural  if  the  character  is  to  seem  human  or  lifelike;  and  the 
character  of  Wotan  is  inconsistent. 

Tho  Wagner  said  that  the  music  was  to  express  in  another 
way  that  expressed  in  the  Avords,  yet  we  find  that  his  conception 
of  motivation  placed  a  heavy  burden  upon  music.  He  mistakes 
a  series  of  '^'Motive"  for  motivation,  tho  he  protests  that  it  it  is  not 
necessary  to  be  logical  but  that  he  reaches  the  same  end  through 
direct  appeal  to  the  feelings.  This  substitution  destroys  the  val- 
ue of  the  Ring  as  a  drama.  Schiller,  in  liis  preface  to  theBraiit 
von  Messina  gave  to  the  chorus  the  function  of  expressing  reflec- 
tion, as  in  the  Greek  drama,  to  lead  the  hearer  from  the  specific 
to  the  general  and  by  comments  on  past  and  future  to  teach  the 

(133) 


10 

lessons  of  wisdom.  W'jiiiiici-  i^ocs  farllicr,  liowt'Ncr,  tliaii  this  ami 
devolves  u]»on  iiist luiiienlal  iiiiisic  the  function  of  motivation  it- 
self as  well  as  relleeti(tn.  In  his  preface  (  \\'erke  IX,  ]).  'MV.l)  he 
siiys:  "Die  Mnsik  ist  es  nnn,  was  nns,  indem  sie  nnahliissijj;  die 
innersten  .Motive  del-  llandlnni;  in  ihrem  veizwei<;ten  Zusam- 
menhan^e  nns  znr  Mitempfindnnj;  l)rin<»t,  zujijleicli  ermachtij^t 
ehen  diese  Handhing  in  drastischer  llestimmthoit  vorznfiihrcn : 
da  die  Ilandelnden  fiber  ilire  Ueweujiriinde  im  Sinne  des  reflok- 
tirendeu  T.ewnsztseins  sich  iins  nicht  anszns])i'echen  liabon,  jjje- 
winut  liiei'durcli  ihr  Dialojjj  jeno  naive  Priizision,  weldie  das 
walire  Leben  des  Dramas  ansmaclit,  Ilatte  die  antike  Traj^iidie 
hierjiejien  den  dramatischen  Dialog:  zn  bescliriinken,  weil  sie  ilin 
zwiselien  die  Chor^esimj^e,  von  (liesen  losiietreunt,  einstrenen 
muszte,  so  ist  nnn  dieses  nrprodnktive  Element  der  Mnsik,  wie 
es  in  jenen,  in  der  Orchestra  anspjefiihrten,  Gesangen  dem  Drama 
seine  lioliere  r>edeutnn,u'  gab,  nnabgescmdert  vcmi  Dialog  im 
moderneu  Orcliester,  dieser  gniszteu  kiinstlerischen  Errnngen- 
schaft  nnserer  Zeit,  der  Handhing  selbst  stets  znr  Seite,  wie  es, 
in  eineni  tiefen  Sinne  gefaszt,  die  Motive  aller  Handhing  selbst. 
gleichwie  in  ihrem  Mntterschooze  verschlieszt."  Frinn  this,  as 
from  his  change  of  original  coucei)tion  and  i)laii  of  the  work,  re- 
sults in  part,  no  donbt,  Wagner's  lack  of  clearness  to  the  average 
hearer,  though  it  mav  be  a  matter  of  doubt  whether  in  some  cases- 
the  ideas  in  his  own  mind  were  clear  or  consistent. 


(134) 


11 


Rheingold 
Scene  I. 

In  the  first  scene  of  Wagner's  Rheingold  the  motivation  of 
action  and  character  is  consistent,  the  one  interacting  upon  the 
other.  The  sensual  Alberich  gazes  at  the  alluring  Rhine  maids 
in  their  play  and  is  anxious  to  gain  possession  of  one  of  iliem. 
In  their  playfulness  and  contempt  for  him  they  like  to  tease  him, 
and  they  rouse  him  to  such  fury  by  their  final  spurning  that  he 
is  in  the  mood  for  the  renunciation  of  love.  On  the  other  Imnd 
the  vehemence  of  his  pursuit  puts  the  maids  off  their  guard  and 
makes  them  careless  of  their  secret  since  they  mistake  for  love 
his  sensual  passion — or,  indeed,  have  that  conception  of  love. 
That  the  dwarf  himself  should  make  a  distinction,  as  lie  does,  be- 
tween love  and  lust  is  perhaps  rather  much  to  expect  of  his  char- 
acter. However,  he  is  clever  enough  to  do  so,  even  if  he  has  not 
the  nobility  we  should  expect  of  one  who  understands  love  in  its 
higher  sense.  Tlie  final  disclosure  of  the  secret  is  motivated  by 
Alberich's  spiteful  contempt  of  their  treasure  as  E.  v.  Hagen 
points  out.  ^  In  a  bit  of  pique,  or  rather  to  impress  the  dwarf  and 
make  him  feel  what  he  is  foregoing,  the  maids  tell  the  secret  in- 
trusted to  them  by  their  father:  "Der  Welt  Erbe/  Gewiinne  zu 
eigen,/  wer  aus  dem  Rheingold/  schiife  den  Ring,/  der  maszlose 
Macht  ihm  verlieh'." 

I  can  hardly  agree  with  Meinck's  answer  (p.  27)  ^to  Julian 
Schmidt's  objection.  '^Schmidt  says,  "Das  Wunderliche  ist,  dasz 
der  Ring  sein  Versprechen  gar  nicht  halt :  er  soil  den  AYeltbesitz 
garantieren  und  garantiert  niclit  einmal  seinen  eigenen  Besitz," 
etc.  Meinck's  answer  is  this :  "Es  wird  also  dem  aus  dem  Golde 
gefertigten  Ringe  eine  weit  hohere  Bedeutung  beigemessen,  als 

^Die  erste  Scene  cles  Rheingold.  pp.  59-66. 

-The  references  to  Meinck  are  to  Die  sagemvissenschaftlichen  Grtmdla- 
gen  unless    otherwise  stated. 

^Preuszische  JahrMicJier  1876,  p.  428. 

(135) 


12 

dem  (lolde  selber,  da  deiii  Scliinit'd  dcs  Kleiiiodrs  die  hochste 
Maelit  uiid  die  Weltlierrschaft  in  Aiissielit  gcstellt  wird.  Aber 
woliljreiiuMkt  :  liloss  in  Aussiclit  j^estellt,  niclits  welter,"  etc.  To 
iiic,  however,  it  seems  a  plain  statement  of  fact.  It  accords  willi 
Wa^niei-'s  own  statement  in  Xih(liin(/('iini//fliii.s,  p.  15(1,  'and  his 
letter  to  Liszt,  November  20,  1851,  wliere  he  qnotes  the  maids  in- 
directly. The  imi>r«)bability  of  the  acbievenjent  of  tbe  power 
is  due  merely  to  that  of  the  making  of  the  ring.  "Der  Vater  sagt' 
es/  und  uns  befahl  er  king  zn  hiit<*n/  den  klaren  Hort,/  dasz 
kcin  Falscber  der  Flut  ihn  entfiilirte,"  etc. 

Tbis  additional  evidence  would  prevent  tbe  supplying  of  a 
uohl  that,  as  Dr,  Karsten  suggested  to  me,  we  migbt  perbaps 
otberwise  suppose  to  be  omitted  in  tbe  second  line  tbr(>ugb  poetic 
license.  We  can  bardly  regard  tbis  revelation  as  in  the  nature 
of  an  oracle,  eitber,  from  tbe  real  grief  of  tbe  maids  upon  tbe 
loss  of  the  gold — at  least  tin}/  have  understood  tbe  statement  as 
true  and  tbeir  father  would  bardly  bave  bad  any  motive  in  de- 
ceiving tbem.  Katber,  be  lias  wisbed  to  impress  tbem  witb  tbe 
importance  of  tbeir  watcb.  Tbeir  own  sincerity  as  far  as  this  is 
concerned  is  evidenced  by  tbeir  concern  tbruout  tbe  drama;  for 
tbe  empbasis  is  always  placed  upon  tbe  restoration  of  innocence. 
Fricka's  reproacb :  "Von  dem  Wassergeziicbt/  mag  icb  nicbts 
wissen  :/  scbon  mancben  ]\Iann/ — mir  zum  Leid — /  verlockten 
sie  bublend  im  Had,"  can  bardly  destroy  tbeir  integrity  as  far 
as  tbeir  trust  was  concerned,  especially  in  as  mucli  as  Fricka 
speaks  at  a  time  when  sbe  is  anxious  tbat  tbe  treasure  sball  come 
to  the  gods.  Tbat  tbe  statement  does  not  seem  in  keeping  witb 
saga  does  not  disprove  it.  l^^'or  Wagner  does  not  always  trouble 
himself  to  be  true  to  saga — nor  migbt  tbat  always  be  necessary — 
and  tbe  very  point  I  wish  to  emphasize  is  tbat  be  is  not  always 
true  to  bis  idea — does  not  always  give  us  a  coherent  connection. 

Tbis  i)romise,  however,  would  not  necessarily  apply  to  the 
other  po.ssessors  of  tbe  ring  (tho  it  migbt),  since  only  Albericb 

'References  to  Wagner's  works  are  to  the  Oesammelte  Schriften  und 
Dichtungen.     3.     Aufl.     Lpz.  1883. 

a36) 


13 

produced  it,  thru  the  renunciation ;  only  lie  fulfilled  the  condition 
for  making  it.  That  Alberich  never  gained  this  power  must  re- 
main a  fault  in  the  carrying  out  of  the  motivation.  On  the  other 
hand  the  destruction  that  followed  in  the  wake  of  the  ring  did 
not  follow  from  this  cursing  of  love  but  from  the  curse  placed 
upon  it  by  Alberich.  Some  motivation  for  this  destruction  is, 
however,  present  here  in  the  fact  that  here  Alberich  makes  dis- 
tinction between  love  and  desire  and  is  not  debarred  from  the 
possibility  of  a  son.  This  destruction,  however,  would  have  been 
inevitable  any  way  to  all  of  the  enemies  of  Alberich  in  as  much  as 
Alberich  was  desirous  of  world  power  and  would  have  overthrown 
them  if  he  had  kept  the  ring  (by  enemies  we  understand  the  pos- 
sessors of  that  power  which  Alberich  was  seeking).  According  to 
this  the  fall  of  Wotan  would  not  rest  entirely  on  his  own  lust  for 
power  but  would  be  from  a  more  external  cause — unless  it  be  sup- 
posed that  Wotan's  sin,  and  consequent  weakness,  is  a  step  in 
the  fulfillment  of  the  promise  of  Alberich.  That  this  may  be  one 
conclusion  is  supported  by  Alberich's  speech  (sc.  3)  :  "mit  gold- 
'ner  Faust/  euch  Gottliche  fang'  ich  mir  alle !/  Wie  ich  der  Liebe 
abgesagt,/  Alles  was  lebt/  soil  ihr  entsagen:/  mit  Golde  ge- 
giert,/  nach  Gold  nur  sollt  noch  ihr  gieren." 

Scene  II. 

The  motivation  of  the  second  scene  as  it  works  out  in  the 
subsequent  progress  of  the  play  is  not  easy  to  understand,  and  it 
may  be  open  to  doubt  as  to  whether  it  was  clearly  conceived  in 
Wagner's  mind.  At  any  rate  he  fails  to  be  coherent.  We  have  a 
bewildering  crossing  of  motives  that  operate  part  of  the  time  and 
part  of  the  time  fail. 

At  the  opening  of  the  scene  we  find  Wotan  dreaming  of  a 
castle  that  has  been  built  by  the  giants — a  castle  that  he  has  de- 
sired in  order  that  he  might  gain  power,  and  that  Fricka  has  de- 
sired in  order  that  she  might  keep  her  wayward  husband  at  home. 
To  gain  this  power  Wotan  has,  thru  the  advice  of  Loge  and  rely- 

(137) 


14 

iu«j;  upon  liiiii  for  i"nis(nii,  (*n(l;mji:«*nMl  tlip  (Joddoss  of  Love  and 
Youth  and  thru  her  the  exist enee  of  the  <i(,(ls.  Now  that  tlie 
structure  is  in  readiness,  however,  we  h^ani  (hat  Wotan  had  no  in- 
tention of  beinj;  true  lo  Iiis  contract  and  upon  contract  his  ]»ower 
and  security  rest:  "NVas  du  hist,  Inst  du  nur  durcli  Vertrai^e:/ 
bedun^en  ist,/  wohl  bedacht  deine  Macht,'"  Thru  this  act,  tlien, 
Wotan  finds  liiniself  on  the  way  to  destruction  whatever  the  turn 
of  attairs.  If  he  is  untrue  to  contract  he  destroys  confidence  in 
himself,  arouses  enmity  and  b>ses  ])ower :  "all  deinem  Wissen 
fiuch'  ich,/  riiehe  weit  deinen  Frieden,"  says  Fasolt ;  and  Fricka  : 
"Sieh,  wie  dein  Leichtsinn/  lachend  uns  alien/  Schinipf  und 
Schmach  erschuf.''  If,  on  tlie  other  hand,  Wotan  jiives  up  the 
pfoddess,  he  sacrifices  immortality.  -Here  then  lies  the  curse  u])on 
the  god,  for  his  fate  is  apparently  already  sealed  without  the 
curse  of  the  ring.  The  situation,  however,  brings  him  into  sub- 
jection to  the  curse,  in  tliat  he  must  turn  about  him  for  a  way  of 
escape  and  in  so  doing  seeks  the  very  thing  that  will  bring  his 
ruin:  illegitimate  gain.  It  is  not  because  of  but  thru  the  cursed 
ring,  then,  that  he  is  to  come  to  grief,  unless  some  preventing  force 
is  brought  to  bear.  (Wagner  says  in  his  letter  to  Koeckel,  Jan. 
25,  1854,  that  *'Alberich  and  his  ring  would  have  been  i)owerless 
to  harm  the  gods  had  they  not  themselves  been  susceptible  to 
evil.") 

On  the  otiier  liand,  (|uite  aside  from  his  own  predicament, 
it  seems  necessary  that  \V«>tan  sjiould  gain  the  ring.  Loge  tells 
the  gods  of  Alberich's  renunciation  of  love,  of  his  successful  fcu'g- 
ing  of  the  ring  and  consecnient  ability  to  gain  power  over  the 
vrorld.  The  gods,  therefore,  as  well  as  the  giants  see  their  om  n 
safety  threatened:  "Zwang  uns  alien/  schiife  der  Zwerg/  wiird' 
ihm  der  Heif  nicht  entris.sen."  Meinck  (p.  27)  says  that  Loge's 
statement:  "doch,  ward  es  zum  runden/  Keife  geschmiedet,/ 
hilft  cs  zu  h(')(list('i-  Maclil,/  gewinnt  dem  Manne  die  Welt,"/  is 
not  to  be  trusted  because  of  Loge's  treacherous  character.  Why 
then  does  Loge  advise  the  return  of  the  ring  to  the  Khine  maids? 

(138) 


15 

Is  it  because  he  feels  sure  the  gods  will  not  return  it,  any  way,  or 
because  he  realizes  that  to  do  so  would  be  futile?  For  in  that 
case  how  should  Wotan  satisfy  the  giants  and  regain  possession  of 
Freia?  Or  are  we  to  suppose  that  the  giants  would  have  been 
satisfied  with  the  gold  if  only  the  wonder-working  ring  were  not 
in  the  hands  of  an  enemy?  We  can  hardly  accejjt  that  view, 
knowing  the  greedy  character  of  the  giants  and  Fafner's  remark 
upon  hearing  Loge's  account  of  the  significance  of  the  ring.  Faf- 
ner  says:  "Glaub'  mir,  mehr  als  Freia/  frommt  das  gleiszende 
Gold:/  audi  ew'ge  Jugend  erjagt,/  wer  durch  Goldes  Zauber 
sie  zwingt."  True,  he  showed  himself  stupid  afterwards  and  put 
his  treasure  to  no  use,  but  he  would  not  yield  an  iota  of  his  posses- 
sion, even  killing  Fasolt  to  gain  all.  ^ 

Scene  III. 

In  the  third  scene  we  see  the  progress  of  Alberich's  plans, 
with  his  subject  band  collecting  for  him  wealth.  He  has  not  only 
the  ring  with  which  he  has  produced  terror  and  subjection,  but  he 
has  forced  the  unwilling  Mime  to  forge  for  him  the  Tarnhelm — 
arousing  the  terror  and  envy  of  the  smith  and  the  desire  not  only 
to  be  free  but  to  be  master  of  Alberich.  In  the  meantime  Alber- 
ich's pride  in  his  achievement  and  desire  for  display  make  him  un- 
wary even  of  the  wily  Loge  whom  he  instinctively  distrusts.  The 
latter  plays  upon  his  confidence  and  vanity  by  an  assumed  w<»nder 
and  incredulity  and,  repeating  the  scheme  of  Puss  in  Boots,  cap- 
tures the  dwarf  in  the  form  of  a  toad. 

The  scene  may  perhaps  be  thought  of  as  symbolical  of  the 
power  of  gold  to  increase  itself,  the  effect  of  successful  greed  upon 
character  and  the  unwariness  that  a  too  rapid  success  may  bring 
with  it — a  scene,  however,  difficult  on  the  stage. 

'cf.  also  Wagner's  letter  to  Roeckel,  Jan.  25,  1854:  "But  it  is  only  quite 
at  the  end  that  Wotan  realizes  this  (that  the  curse  can  be  removed  only  by  the 
restoration  of  he  gold  to  Nature),  when  he  himself  has  reached  the  goal  of 
his  tragic  career,  what  Loge  had  fortold  him  in  the  beginning  with  a 
touching  insistence,  the  god  consumed  by  ambition  had  ignored,"  etc. 

:(i39) 


IG 

Scene  IV. 

In  the  last  scene  of  the  Vorspirl  we  have  the  ('(»inpletion  of 
the  tliird,  separat(Ml  from  it  for  stage  reasons:  Alberi(  h's  ransom, 
as  in  I  he  I  >i<  lri<h-;an\  V6lsunga-su(/(i  and  l^ilda,  and  the  con- 
sequent curse  of  the  ring:  "Gab  sein  (lold/  nur — Macht  ohue 
Masz,  nun  zeug'  sein  Zauber/  Tod  dem — der  ihn  triigt;/  Dem 
Tode  verfallen,/  feszle  den  Feigen  die  Furclit;/  des  Kiuges 
Herr/  als  des  Kinges  Knecht:/  bis  in  meiner  Hand/  den 
geraubten  wieder  ich  halte!"  From  a  psychological  standpoint 
the  curse  sliould  affect  only  the  one  who  has  provoked  it,  or  if  a 
later  owner  of  the  gold,  then  this  owner  must  hold  it  as  a  guilty 
possession,  conscious  of  an  injustice,  a  wrong  that  he  must  make 
right  if  he  is  to  free  from  its  effect.  For  the  effect  of  the  curse 
can  be  only  symbolic  of  the  effect  of  guilt  upon  one's  mind  and 
destiny.  (Concerning  Wotan's  share  in  it  see  p.  14,  1.  13  ff.) 
The  curse  of  the  gold  recalls  Phryxus'  curse  of  the  golden  fleece 
in  Grillparzer's  Das  goldene  Vliesz.  ^ There,  however,  the  securing 
of  the  fleece  is  connected  w^ith  a  grave  crime,  and  the  perpetrator, 
Aietes,  feels  the  pangs  of  guilt — horror  from  the  curse  overcomes 
him.  The  effect  of  the  curse  thruout  the  cycle  is  c(mnected  with 
inner  as  well  as  outer  struggle.  The  curse  whicli  pursues  its  vic- 
tim is  in  harmony  with  the  act  by  which  the  fleece  is  obtained  or 
with  the  attitude  with  which  it  is  regarded  because  of  its  asso- 
ciations (e.  g.  by  Medea:)  Wotan,  according  to  our  feeling,  com- 
mitted a  wrong  in  taking  the  ring,  but  there  is  a  great  contrast  be- 
tween the  dramatic  greatness  of  the  representation  by  Grillpar- 
zer  and  the  effect  of  paltryness  in  Wagner's  scene.  The  same 
difference  is  noticeable,  too,  in  Wagner's  representation  of  guilt 
(if  we  accept  that  interpretation  of  Erda's  appearance.)  There 
the  spectator  feels  only  the  strangeness  of  the  mystic  appearance 
and  is  not  moved  by — cannot  in  any  way  adequately  grasp, — the 
moral  struggle  of  Wotan.  The  method  of  representation  is  pure- 
ly artificial  and  weak. 

In  the  latter  part  of  the  scene  we  have  the  paying  of  the 

'For  a  comparison  of  Grillparzer's  Vliesz  and  Wagner's  Ring,  see  Karl 
Ivandmann's  article  In  the  Zeitschrift  fiir  vergleichende  Litteraturgeschichte, 
1891. 

(140) 


17 

ransom  in  a  spectacular  manner,  and  tbe  demand  of  tlie  ring  to 
fill  the  last  aperture  in  the  heap,  an  incident  based  on  the  filling 
of  the  otter  skin  in  the  Edda.  Wotan  refuses  to  heed  Loge's  ad- 
monition and  yields  only  to  the  warning  of  Erda.  Her  appearance 
on  the  scene  has  been  a  puzzle  to  critics.  Golther  (p.  30 ) ^  says, 
"Eine  dustre,  schwtile  Schuldstimmung  ist  durch  Erdas  Warnung 
in  Wotans  Seele  gelegt."  I  can  see  only  a  symbolical  and  artifi- 
cial representation  of  Wotan's  worry  and  fear  (cf.  Siegfried  p. 
155)  as  an  echo  of  Alberich's  curse.  The  injunction  to  avoid  the 
ring  is  useless:  "Weiche,  Wotan,  weiche!/  flieh'  des  Ringes 
Fluch !/  Rettungslos/  dunklem  Verderben/  Weiht  dich  sein 
Gewinn,"  and  again:  "Ein  dtisterer  Tag/  dammert  den  Got- 
tern:/  dir  rath'  ich,  meide  den  Ring."  Wotan  is  not  avoiding  it, 
however,  when  he  is  giving  in  payment  and  its  return  to  the  Rhine 
has  been  discussed  (p.  14,  1.  33  and  p.  15,  li.  2-8.)  This  incident 
serves  perhaps,  nevertheless,  as  the  first  thread  in  his  later  re- 
nunciation. 

For  the  progress  of  the  story  we  have  hints  of  further  plans 
on  the  part  of  Wotan,  and  hints  of  the  approaching  fall  of  the 
gods  and  of  the  true  intent  of  Loge,  as  also,  in  the  lament  of  the 
Rhine  maids,  a  further  impression  of  the  effect  of  the  theft  and 
the  necessity  of  its  return  to  the  Rhine. 

This  motive  of  the  return  of  the  gold  to  the  Rhine  is  most  con- 
fusing. In  the  Rheingold  while  we  feel  its  necessity,  it  seems 
fruitless  as  a  means  of  expiation,  while  later  we  have  the  impres- 
sion that  it  will  be  effective  and  then  thru  an  arbitrary  turn  of 
Wotan's  character  find  that  it  is  not.  Wagner  in  his  letter  to 
Roeckel,  Jan.  25,  1854,  says :  "Certainly  the  downfall  of  the  gods 
is  no  necessary  part  of  the  drama  regarded  as  a  mere  contra- 
punktal  nexus  of  motives.  .  .  .No,  the  necessity  for  this  downfall 
had  to  arise  out  of  our  own  deepest  convictions,  as  it  did  with  Wo- 
tan." But  should  not  our  convictions  be  grounded  in  the  play 
itself,  if  the  play  is  to  have  any  purpose  or  value? 

'Unless  otherwise  stated  the  reference  to  Golther  are  to  Die  sagegesehicht- 
lichen  Grundlagen. 

(141) 


18 

III    llic   iiiol  i\;it  ion   <»f'    WOtJiii's  clKii-ictci-,      \\';i<iiicr   luis  de- 
prived  the  god   of  all   dignity,  of  all    iiisi)irati(>n   of  syiiipatliy. 
There  is,  of  course  a  mythological  basis  for  his  siu  and  wicked- 
ness, but  we  should  he  very  grateful  to  Wagner  if  he  had  elevated 
the  character  and  made  it  more  worthy  of  a  hero.     While  Odin's 
l>lii;lit  in  the  IJdda  is  ridiculous  when  he  and  Loki  are  held  prison- 
er for  the  killing  of  the  otter,  Odin  does  not  himself  descend  to 
the  indignity  of  an}'  part  in  the  trapping  of  the  dwarf.    Accord- 
ing to  the  impression  given  in  the  translations  of  the  Edda  by 
Sinirock,  Ettmiiller  and  others,  the  story  does  not  imply  any  sin 
in  the  killing  of  the  (itter  as  such,  tho  to  the  Germanic  mind  it 
njight  so  appeal.     This  interpretation  is,  of  course,  necessary  to 
the  idea  of  Wagner's  dramas.    However,  it  is  difficult  to  see  any- 
thing heroic  in  Wotan's  character,  such  as  one  would  expect  from 
a  god  or  even  a  mortal  hero  who  is  to  inspire  our  sympathy.     He 
\s  not  only  wicked,  but  he  is  petty — small.     He  is  false  from  the 
beginning,  grasping,  indifferent  to  the  rights  or  feelings  of  others. 
And  to  attain  what?    A  mere  selfish  end,  without  noble  ideal  or 
purpose. 


(142) 


19 


Walkuere 

Act  I.,  ^cciw  I. 

Tbe  [Togress  of  the  draiiu),  WalkuGrc,  consists  in  tlio  intr(;(li;(- 
tion  of  Siegmund  into  the  liome  of  Hnnding,  and  tlie  instinctive 
sympathy  between  Siegmund  and  Sieglinde  thru  tlieir  common 
suffering  and  thru  the  former's  appearance  of  valor — for  we  learn 
later  that  Sieglinde  has  been  expecting  a  deliverer  since  Wotan's 
appearance  with  the  sword. 

Scene  II. 

In  the  second  scene  we  feel  the  approaching  collision  be- 
tween Siegmund  and  Hunding  from  the  latter's  hostile  recep- 
tion of  the  wayfaring  man  and  soon  surmise  connection  between 
it  and  Hunding's  observation  of  the  resemblance  between  his  wife 
and  his  guest.  Our  dislike  of  Hunding  is  instinctive  from  his 
manner  toward  his  guest  and  from  his  wife's  unhappiness.  From 
Siegmund's  account  of  his  former  life  we  infer  that  Wotan  has 
been  shaping  mortal  affairs,  is,  in  fact,  the  father  of  Siegmund 
and  Sieglinde.  He  has  evidently  separated  the  two  to  bring  them 
together  here,  after  preparing  his  son,  as  in  the  Vdlsungamf/a 
Siegmund  did  Sinfjotli,  thru  a  life  of  hardship  to  free  Sieglinde 
from  her  husband.  We  may  suppose  that  Wotan  has  arranged 
Sieglinde's  affairs,  too,  and  thru  their  bond  of  suffering  and  con- 
sequent sympathy  is  preparing  them  for  their  love.  We,  of  course, 
connect  the  situation  with  Wotan's  thought  at  the  end  of  Rhein- 
gold  tho  we  do  not  yet  understand  the  connection :  "Was,  mach- 
tig  der  Furcht/  mein  Muth  mir  erf  and,/  wenn  siegend  es  'ebt/ 
leg'  es  den  Sinn  dir  dar!" 

The  occasion  for  the  strife  between  Hunding  and  Siegmund 
is  offered  by  a  conflict  which  the  latter  has  just  had  with  Hund- 
ing's kin,  an  account  of  which  excites  liis  desire  for  revenge.  It 
would  seem  like  a  series  of  chance  incidents  if  we  did  not  have  the 

(143) 


20 

foclino:  that  Wotan  as  dcMis  ex  machina  is  moving  the  characters 
around  as  so  many  men  on  a  chess  board.  For  examine,  it  may 
seem  a  chance  that  Siegmund  has  happened  to  seek  refuge  in  the 
home  of  his  kidnapped  sister  and  that,  too,  at  a  time  when  he 
has  just  hapjx'ued  to  c(mie  into  a  conflict  witli  Hunding's  kin. 
The  hitter  incident  corres])onds,  however,  witii  Siegmund's  in- 
stinct of  i)rotection  for  the  weak  but  the  bringing  in  of  so  extran- 
eous a  motive  now  seems  forced. 

The  story  is  intense  and  up  to  tliis  jKnnt  holds  our  sym])athy 
for  the  unhappy  brother  and  sister,  but  the  motivaticm  seems  an 
external  and  artificial  matter  as  far  as  the  human  characters 
are  concerned. 

The  course  of  action  does  not  grow  entirely  out  of  the  char- 
acters themselves.  AVotan  is  adding  another  link  to  the  chain  of 
sufferings  he  has  caused,  .md  it  arouses  our  disgust  if  not  our 
indignation  against  the  god  And  why  is  it  all  necessary  an v way? 
Wotan  has  paid  his  debt,  has  his  castle  and,  as  we  learn  later 
Fafner,  having  killed  his  brother,  is  idly  watching  his  possessions 
without  threatening  the  position  of  the  gods.  Alberich,  t(»o,  is 
helpless.  It  may,  of  course,  be  thought  of  as  a  part  of  the  dwarf's 
curse  that  those  who  do  not  have  the  ring  shall  desire  it,  that  AVo- 
tan  is  cursed  from  having  had  possession  of  the  ring,  that,  as 
Fafner  is  mortal,  he  must  in  accordance  with  the  curse  some  time 
die  and  then  bring  danger  to  the  gods.  At  least  they  fear  so :  for, 
as  Loge  tells  us,  they  are  blind;  and  Wotan  tells  us  that  fear  lias 
pos.sessed  his  being.  To  Wotan,  then,  this  continuation  of  the 
plotting  seems  necessary,  but  again  his  character  suffers  from 
his  ruthless  manipulation  of  his  creations — a  course  that  Wagner 
meant  probably  to  illustrate  the  effect  of  love  of  gold.  Wotan, 
here,  as  Hebbel's  god,  sacrifices  the  individual,  but  not  that  good 
may  come  to  the  race,  merely  to  a  personal  end;  or  rather  he 
creates  the  characters  for  a  personal  end  and  saciMfices  them  when 
they  cannot  serve  him. 

Tn  his  Nihelungenmythus  Wagner  speaks  of  a  servitude  un- 

(144) 


21 

der  which  the  dwarfs  and  Alberich  himself  are  suffering  in  con- 
sequence of  the  ring,  a  servitude  which  it  is  Wotan's  noble  pur- 
pose to  remove  by  causing  the  return  of  the  ring  to  the  Rhine.  To 
that  end  he  has  been  developing  the  human  race  to  a  high  state  of 
valor.  The  whole  situati(;n,  however,  seems  a  mere  arbitrary 
choice  of  purpose  by  Wagner  without  logical  development  or  con- 
nection. That  the  return  of  the  gold  to  the  Rhine  should  have  so 
sweeping  an  effect  does  not  groM^  out  of  the  nature  of  affairs. 
Wagner  means  to  illustrate  the  evil  effect  of  the  desire  for  gain, 
but  the  taking  away  of  the  gain  does  not  restore  men's  minds  to 
innocence,  nor  does  a  righting  of  wrong  to  the  Rhine  maids  free 
others  (e,  g.  all  the  possessors  of  the  ring)  from  any  stain  of 
guilt  unless  all  who  have  committed  a  wrong  and  come  under  the 
curse  shall  desire  this  return  of  the  ring.  The  idea  seems  to  be 
that  the  curse  must  fulfill  itself  upon  all  wlio  have  come  into  con- 
tact with  the  ring  and  that  Wotan  must  return  the  ring  to  stop 
any  further  progress  of  the  curse.  ^ 

Why,  too,  should  Wotan  create  men  to  carry  out  his  pur- 
pose? Because  he  must  be  true  to  contract?  But  that  has  not 
been  his  custom.  In  the  Mythns  Wagner  says:  "Wotan  selbst 
kann  aber  das  Unrecht  nicht  tilgen,  ohne  ein  neues  Unrecht  zu 
begehen:  nur  ein,  von  den  Gottern  unabhangiger,  freier  Wille, 
der  alle  Schuld  auf  sich  selbst  zu  laden  und  zu  btiszen  im  Stande 
ist;  kann  den  Zaiiber  losen,  und  in  dem  Menschen  ersehen  die  Gut- 
ter die  Fahigkeit  zu  solchem  freien  Willen."  We  do  not  as  yet  in 
the  drama  have  any  feeling  that  Wotan  is  moved  by  such  a  desire 
but  connect  his  action  with  the  fear  that  came  over  liim  in  Rhrin- 
gold. — Has  Wotan  come  to  a  realization  tliat  his  falsity  weakens 
his  power  and  resolved  to  restore  confidence  by  turning  over  a  new 

'From  a  mythological  standpoint,  too,  Wagner  presents  a  confusing  mix- 
ture. Light  (the  gold  in  the  Rhine)  succumbs  to  darkness  (Alberich)  and 
then  brealts  forth  again  (snatched  from  Schwarz- Alberich  by  Licht-Alberich). 
Then  we  have  a  similar  process  again:  the  giant  is  overcome  by  Siegfried  (son 
of  Licht-Alberich)  who  wins  the  light  (gold),  tho  he  is  himself  the  light. 
Then  Siegfried  is  threatened  by  Hagen,  son  of  Schwarz-Alberich,  and  finally 
thrii  death  loses  the  light  which  is  then,  nevertheless,  restored  to  the  Rhine.). 

(145) 


22 

leaf?     (This  confidence  seems  to  liave  been  lacking  before  bis  rob- 
ber}' of  the  rinj?  as  we  see  from  Alberich's  attitude  upon  NVotan's 
arrival  in  Nibelheim.  i     lint  is  he  any  less  false  to  contract  by  this 
indirect  method   of  breaking;  it?     Suppose,  to(N   that   man  does 
restore  the  .^obl  to  the  Khine — does  that  brinj;  any  credit  to  Wo- 
tan  or  restore  to  him  any  respect?     lie  should  now  have  on  his 
mind  the  misfortunes  his  instruments  have  had  to  bear  to  ac- 
complish his  purpose,  but  that,  in  the  main,  does  not  disturb  him. 
The  situation  remains  as  it  was  in  the  RJirinr/ohJ  and  there  can  be 
no  further  development  for  Wotan.     He  is  ruined  if  he  keeps  his 
contract — for  he  can  keep  it  only  by  dishonorable  means,  "durch 
Gewalt  und  List"  accordinc:  to  the  Myth  us  as  in  the  drama.     He 
is  ruined,  too,  if  he  breaks  it.     This  is  evidently  the  feelinc;  that 
Wagner  has  when  in  his  last  version  he  has  Wotan  will  his  own 
death.    Even  that,  however,  cannot  convince  one  of  any  greatness 
in  Wotan's  character  and  it  does  not  seem  there  to  correspond 
with  the  events.     It  does  not  seem  to  rise  from  any  sense  of  guilt 
on  the  part  of  Wotan  (in  spite  of  Wagner's  assertion  of  it  in  the 
MifthuH)  but  fr<un  his  inability  to  cope  with  fate.     On  the  other 
hand   the  correct  mood   f(U'     interpretation  on   the   i)art   of  the 
hearer  has  not  been  motivated,  for  the  hearer  has  tlie  im])ression 
that  fate  at  last  has  been  successfully  coped  with.     Hecause  of 
the  emphasis  laid  on  the  return  of  the  gold  to  the  Rhine;  e.  g.  in 
Wotan's  hope  expressed  to  Waltraute,  the  naive  reader  certainly 
feels  surj)rise  and  disappointment  at  the  termination.    He  is  Xovw 
asunder  by  what  seems  to  him  the  incongruity  of  the  two  aims: 
renunciatiim  and  rauscmi.     The  correct  mood  is  to  a  certain  de- 
gree produced   but   with   lapses — but  perhaps  this  is  one  of  the 
cases  where  music  motivates  I 

ficfue  in. 

In  tlie  last  scene  of  (he  first  act  of  Witlkiifir  we  learn  ^Vo■ 
tan's  immediate  tho  not  ultimate  purpose  in  bringing  Siegmund 
to  Hunding's  home:  that  he  may  receive  a  sword  promised  to  him 

(146) 


23 

when  lie  should  be  in  deepest  distress.  Wotan,  moreover,  has  not 
only  brought  the  sword  but  has  created  the  distressing  situation 
that  requires  it, — the  need  on  the  part  of  Siegmund  and  the  feel- 
ing on  the  part  of  Sieglinde  that  it  is  destined  to  her  rescuer  and 
that  the  rescuer  is  Siegmund,  as  well  as  her  feeling  of  sympathy 
for  his  distress.  As  the  scene  progresses,  however,  in  spite  (-f  the 
charm  of  their  unrestrained  love  and  the  pretty  figure  of  spring- 
lured  by  love,  our  sympathy  grows  less ;  for,  tho  Hunding  has  re- 
ceived Sieglinde  from  robbers  as  an  unwilling  wife,  he  is  now  a 
wronged  man  after  all,  and,  moreover,  the  brother  and  sister 
knowing  their  relationship  plight  their  troth.  Of  course,  we 
know  that  Wotan  is  back  of  the  scene  and  to  some  critics  tliat  is 
sufficient  to  make  the  scene  acceptable,  and  they  think  of  these 
simply  as  elemental  beings  who  follow  their  impulses  as  a  matter 
of  course.  They  do  not,  however,  seem  to  be  naive  enough,  for 
there  is  too  much  reflection  thruout  the  scene. 

When  Siegmund  is  alone  he  meditates  upon  Sieglinde's  ef- 
fect upon  himself,  analysing  his  feelings ;  e.  g.  "ein  Weib  sah' 
ich,/  wonnig  und  hehr;/  entziickendes  Bangen/  zehret  mein 
Herz." — etc.  He  speaks  of  stealing  her  from  her  husband,  but 
justifies  himself  because  of  what  she  has  to  endure.  Even  if  we 
are  willing  to  accept  his  motive  we  cannot  grant  liim  naivete.  If 
we  think  of  him  as  receiving  all  ideas  from  Wotan,  the  motiva- 
tion seems  artificial,  and  he  remains  unnatural.  Just  one  thing- 
mitigates  in  some  degree  Siegmund's  attitude.  He  has  been  buf- 
feted cruelly  by  fortune,  and  from  Sieglinde  he  receives  the  first 
sympathy. 

Sieglinde,  too,  meditates  and  even  makes  advances,  but  there 
is  motivation,  in  that  she  interprets  the  placing  of  the  sword  in 
the  tree  as  the  promise  of  a  hero  to  rescue  her,  and  she  thinks  she 
recognized  Waelse,  her  father:  fiind  ich  ihn  heut,'/     und  hier, 

den  Freund; /     was  je  mich  geschmerzt/      in    Schaud'    und 

Schmach, — /  siiszeste  Rache/  stihnte  dann  Alles !..../  fiind' 
ich  den  heiligen  Freund,/    umfing'  den  Helden  mein  Arm  I" 

(147) 


24 

Siejniiiind's  nnising^s  about  love  and  sj»riug  suggest  that  he 
realizes  their  own  situation  and  do  not  permit  us  to  regard  him 
as  entirely  naive.  He  shows  no  surprise  when  Sieglinde  discovers 
their  relationship,  and  thruout  meditates  ujjon  the  passion  of  his 
love.  There  is,  too,  mutli  (»f  the  sj)irit  of  following  their  desires 
in  spite  of  the  situation.  Sieglinde  says  at  last:  "Bist  du  Sieg- 
mund,/  den  icli  hier  sehe — /  Sieglinde  bin  ich,/  die  dich 
ersehnt :/  die  eig'ne  Schwester/  gew^annst  du  zueins  mit  dem 
Schwert !'' 

And  Siegmund  replies:  "Braut  und  Schwester/  bist  du 
dem  Bruder — /    so  bliihe  denn  Wiilsungen-Blut  !'■ 

That  Wagner  should  have  put  such  a  purpose  in  the  mind  of 
Siegmund  already,  however,  seems  out  of  place,  and  does  not  make 
the  incident  palatable.  This  truly  is  not  the  kind  of  love  we  should 
think  of  as  a  factor  in  the  redemption  of  the  world.  Wotan's  plan, 
however,  as  far  as  the  action  of  the  drama  shows,  is  still  a  selfish 
one.  In  view  of  so  much  reflection  I  cannot  agree  with  Meinck 
(pp.  191-4)  who  quotes  also  from  v.  Hagen:^  "der  Liebe  zwischen 
Siegmund  und  Sieglinde  ist  durch  den  hTxhsten  (Jrad  der  Individ- 
ual isat  ion  der  Walil  jede  Sinnlichkeit  benommen,"  nor  has  Wag- 
ner treated  it  so  skillfully  that  we  may  excuse  it  thru  the  old  na- 
ture myth.  It  does  not  seem  to  me  that  the  situation  is  made  ac- 
ceptable by  the  fact  that,  according  to  Meinck,  they  learn  it  ''too 
late,"  and  their  heroism  in  saving  the  Wiilsungen  race  is  not  felt 
as  convincing. 

Act  U,  Scene  I. 
In  the  second  act  we  learn  definitely  that  it  is  Wotan's  pur- 
pose that  has  lain  back  of  the  progress  of  the  affairs  of  Siegmund 
and  Sieglinde,  for  he  instructs  Brtinnhilde  to  give  to  Siegmund 
the  victory. 

Scene  II. 
We  receive  still  further  light  u]>on  the  situation  in  Fricka'e 
accusation  and  find  it  as  stated  above.     Why  Wotan  yields     to 
'Veber  d4e  erste  Rheingoldscene,  p.  37. 

(148) 


25 

Fricka  becomes  now  a  question  in  our  minds.  Is  his  character 
consistent?  He  says  he  has  not  been  wont  to  disturb  her  in  her 
rule;  but  in  the  second  scene  of  Rhelngold  we  gatlier  that  lie 
considered  his  own  desire  in  the  building  of  the  castle  and  pawning 
of  Freia  first  without  particular  regard  for  her  feelings  and  again 
(Walkuere  II,  2)  where  Fricka  says:  "Die  treue  Gattin/ 
trogest  du  stets."  However,  we  infer  that  it  has  been  his  custom 
to  try  to  appease  her :  "denn  dein  Weib  noch  scheutest  du  so,"  etc. 
Are  we  to  regard  Wotan's  submission,  then,  as  the  settlement  of  a 
family  quarrel,  in  pacification  of  an  angry  wife,  or  does  he  believe 
her  statement:  "Von  Menschen  verlacht,/  verlustig  der  Macht, 
gingen  wir  Gotter  zu  Grund,"  etc.  (This  is  Hunding's  attitude 
toward  Siegmund,  of  Wotan's  race,  tho  we  have  no  reason  to  sup- 
pose that  he  associates  the  Walsungen  race  with  the  gods.) 

From  Wotan's  general  attitude  we  may  believe  that  he  is  not 
troubled  much  about  the  sacredness  of  marriage :  "Unheilig  acht' 
ich  den  Eid/  der  Unliebende  eint,"  but  that  he  does  wish  to 
pacify  the  goddess  and  that  he  perceives  his  deceit  has  been  pene- 
trated and  is  useless. 

Accordingly  he  finds  that  Siegmund  is  not  really  the  hero  he 
requires :  "Noth  thut  ein  Held,/  der  ledig  gottlich^n  Scliutzes,/ 
sich  lose  vom  Gottergesetz :"  etc. 

The  situation  is  certainly  a  painful  one,  but  seems  absurd  and 
Wotan  suffers  another  loss  of  dignity  to  say  the  least  (cf.  also  pp. 
20-22). 

Scene  III. 

In  the  next  scene  comes  the  result  of  Wotan's  reluctant  prom- 
ise to  Fricka,  in  that  he  remands  his  former  orders  to  Briinnhilde, 
betraying,  however,  his  real  desire.  He  reverts  to  past  history,  for 
Wagner  wrote  his  dramas  in  reverse  order, in  conse(|uence  of  which 
we  find  more  or  less  repetition.  Wotan  relates  Alberich's  curse 
of  love  and  acquisition  of  power,  his  own  warning  and  his  creation 
of  the  Valkyries,  the  offspring  of  his  so-called  love,  to  ward  off  the 
doom  of  the  gods,  his  fear  of  Alberich  if  the  latter  should  regain 

(149) 


26 

llif  ring,  liis  feeling  Ihcii  of  the  necessity  of  regaining  the  ring 
himself  and  his  own  ]>owerIessness,  a  sitnation  which  has  been  dis- 
cussed ahuve  I  pj).  Ll4-L'2.  )  He  states  in  somewhat  different  Icnns 
his  requirenicnts  for  a  hero:  ''Nnr  einer  diirfte/  was  ich  nicht 
darf:/  ein  Held,  deni  helfen<ly  nie  ich  niich  neigte;/  der  frenid 
dem  Gotte,/  frei  seiner  ^'T^nst,/  nnbewnszt,  ohne  Gtdieisz,/ 
aiis  eigner  Noth/  niit  der  eig'nen  Welir/  schiife  die  That, '  etc. 
He  must  find  one  to  fight  against  himself — "a  friendly  enemy:" 
"der  in  eig'neni  Trotze/  der  trauteste  niir."  Why  all  this  limita- 
tion should  he  placed  upon  the  hero  is  not  clear;  e.  g.,  that  it 
should  be  ''unbewuszt"  and  that  he  should  defy  Wotan  himself, 
unless  that  should  be  a  means  of  ]»roving  the  hero  an  indei)end- 
ent  force  of  will  and  Wotan  in  cQusecjuence  free  from  any  addi- 
tional deceit  or  guilt  conce)-ning  what  he  should  do.  The  god  ex- 
presses his  despair  of  finding  such  a  hero:  "denn  selbst  musz  der 
Freie  sich  schatten,/  Knechte  erknet'  ich  mir  nur  I"  Uut  what 
a  ridiculous  demand  that  the  free  man  should  create  himself! 
Wotan's  reason  for  yielding  has  been  discussed  above  (j).  25).  As 
another  reason  for  his  dilemma,  he  gives  this:  ''Ich  lieriihrte  Al- 
berich's  Ring — /  gierig  hielt  ich  das  (i(dd!"  Here  it  seems  some- 
what strange  tf>  the  reader  that  the  curse  should  hold  for  Wotan 
unless  he  still  desires  the  ring.  That  he  does  desire  it,  however, 
follows  from  his  fear. 

In  this  scene  we  feel  more  symjiathy  for  Wotan  than  in  any 
preceding  it,  for  he  says:  "unwissend  trngvoll  libt*  ich  Tn- 
treue,/  band  durch  Vertriige,/  was  rnheil  barg:  listig  ver- 
lockte  micli  Loge,"  etc.  and  ''Was  ich  liebe  musz  ich  verlassen,/ 
morden  was  ich  je  niinne,/  trfigend  ven-atlien  wer  mir  vertraut  I" 
He  seems  to  be  more  sensible  of  his  own  guilt  and  to  have  more 
sympathy  for  his  victims.  Howe\'er,  his  snrrendei*  seems  sudden 
and  weak."        FrcMu  the  action  of  tli<'  drama    (tlio  we  know  from 


'Chamberlain  (p.  106)  says.  "Wotan  makes  the  resolution  impulsively, 
not  philosophically  and  only  with  faulty  consistency  and  insight  carries  out 
this  negation  and  continually  int.^rrupts  the  course  of  affairs." 

(150) 


27 

the  Mythus)  it  is  not  clear  what  Wotan  means  by  his  work — but 
we  suppose  he  refers  to  his  dream  of  power  and  creation  of  men. 
There  is  nothing  here  to  indicate  that  he  lias  wished  a  dissolution 
of  the  curse  for  any  other  reason  than  to  free  himself  from  the 
fear  of  downfall,  witliout  any  added  magnanimity  to  tlie  dwarfs 
such  as  suggested  in  the  Nibelii n gemu ytJi  ii f^ ,  tho  he  has  a  pleasure 
in  the  rearing  of  man.  That,  however,  was  a  means  to  a  personal 
end. 

Wotan's  awaiting  the  end  has  been  commented  on  above  (p. 
22).  He  says  here:  "was  fr<mimte  mir  eigner  Wille?/  Einen 
Freien  kann  ich  nicht  wollen."  Yet  in  the  next  drama  we  find  him 
rejoicing  in  the  freedom  of  Siegfried.  He  says  also:  "So  nimm 
meinen  Segen,/  Nibelungen  Sohn !/  Was  tief  mich  ekelt,/  der 
Gottheit  nichtigen  Glanz !/  zernage  sie  gierig  dein  Neid !"  In 
the  Siegfried  he  has  passed  his  inheritance  over  to  the  hero, 
who  has  overcome  the  dragon  and  obtained  the  ring:  "weihf  ich 
in  wiithendem  Ekel/  des  Nibelungen  Neid  die  Welt,/  dem  won- 
nigsten  Walsung/  weis'  ich  mein  Erbe  nun  an.'' 

Another  puzzle  is  added  in  this  scene,  tho  suggested  in 
Rheingold.  "Wenn  der  Liebe  flnsterer  Feind/  zurnend 
zeugt  einen  Sohn,/  der  Seligen  Ende/  silumt  dann  nicht!"  We 
learn  that  Alberich  is  to  have  this  son — but  just  why  this  is  to 
have  a  more  direful  effect  than  Alberich's  own  malice  is  not  clear. 
It  seems  to  be  merely  another  case  of  arbitrary  motivation,  tho 
perhaps  Wagner  meant  this,  as  the  offspring  of  liate,  to  illustrate 
the  spreading  of  evil.  Such  an  aim  would  not  be  a  sufficient  mo- 
tivation for  a  dramatic  plot,  however.  We  have  no  feeling  of  any 
dramatic  necessity. 

We  have  in  this  scene  some  preparation  for  the  next  in 
Brtinnhilde's  attitude  toward  Wotan's  unexpected  order.  She  has 
always  had  Wotan's  will  at  heart  (mythologically  she  is  thougiit 
of  as  the  expression  of  his  will)  and  has  been  accustomed  to  the 
role  of  affectionate  protector  of  Siegmund.  Now,  therefore,  she 
would  be  acting,  she  feels,  contrary  to  Wotan's  real  will  as  well 

(151) 


28 

as  her  personal  inclination — would  be  p;uilty,  in  fact,  of  i)erfidy. 
She  is  very  human  in  her  sympathy  fur  forsaken  valor. 

Scene  IV. 

In  the  fourth  scene  which  brings  us  back  to  the  lovers  we  find 
a  feeling  of  guilt  on  the  part  of  Sieglinde  mingled  with  de- 
light in  her  love  and  terror  for  Siegmund.  On  the  part  of  Sieg- 
mund  we  find  confidence  in  his  sword  and  in  his  role  of  avenger. 
The  scene  is  vivid,  with  a  rapid  movement  befitting  it — would  be 
stirring  if  it  were  not  marred  by  the  revolting  situation.  Our 
sympathy  stays  with  the  lovers,  nevertheless,  on  the  whole,  since 
we  feel  that  Wotan  is  responsible  for  their  position  and  now, 
whether  by  force  or  free  will,  has  deserted  them.  The  scene  is 
interrupted  by  Briinnhilde,.  w^ho  comes  apparently  expecting  to 
carry  out  Wotan's  last  command.  Siegmund's  devotion  to  Sieg- 
linde and  determination  to  share  her  unhappy  h)t  in  preference  to 
the  delights  of  Walhalla,  however,  as  also  the  helplessness  of  Sieg- 
linde win  our  sympathy,  together  with  that  of  Briinnhilde.  Now, 
then,  the  Valkyria  is  moved  by  love  to  Siegmund.  It  was  a  love, 
however,  that  was  saving  him  for  another  and  included  pity  foi 
Sieglinde  and  her  child.' 

That  Wotan's  motive  in  yielding  to  Fricka  was  chiefly  that  of 
pacification  or  submission  to  law  is  further  shown  by  his  killing 
of  Hunding,  tho  his  immediate  participation  was  made  plausible 
by  Briinnhilde's  contempt  of  his  authority.  The  death  of  Hund- 
ing is  necessary  for  our  feeling  of  justice,  as  also  Wotan's,  for  his 
former  wrong  to  Sieglinde,  but  it  is  a  somewhat  summary  and 
convenient  way  of  becoming  rid  of  him. 

Act  III,  Scene  I. 

The  imjmrtance  of  the  first  scene  of  Act  III  in  the  action  of 

'cf.  also  Meinck's  discussion,  pp.  244-7,  and  Wagner's  statement  {Bay- 
reuther  Blotter  1881,  p.  206)  that  she  feels  "sich  von  einem  neunen,  ihr 
bisher  fremden  Element  bervihrt,  das  den  hehren  Gleichmut  in  ihrer  Seele  ins 
Wanken  bringt.  Dr.  Meinck  compares  the  incident  to  that  in  Schiller's  Jting- 
frau  in  which  the  maid  spares  the  life  of  Lionel.  1  find  more  motivation 
here,  however,  in  the  appeal  to  Briinnhilde's  sympathy  and  in  the  fact  that  Wo- 
tan has  taught  her  to  love  the  hero. 

(152) 


29 

the  drama  lies  in  the  information  that  Sieglinde  receives  from 
Brtinnhilde  concerning  her  son's  future  greatness,  in  the  preserva- 
tion and  giving  to  her  of  the  broken  sword  and  the  sending  of 
Sieglinde  to  the  forest  inhabited  by  Fafner,  for  purposes  of  safety 
from  Wotan  in  a  place  avoided  by  him.  We  are  to  suppose  that 
Wotan  feels  disgust  at  the  place  from  his  inability  to  take  the  ring. 
— This  incident  makes  it  possible  and  natural  for  Mime  to  come 
to  the  aid  of  Sieglinde  and  have  charge  of  Siegfried  at  the  open- 
ing of  the  following  drama. 

Scene  II. 

As  a  natural  punishment  for  Brtinnhilde  ( for  she  is  no  longer 
Wotan's  will  since  she  l\as  violated  it)  she  is  condemned  to  take 
on  !he  mortal  nature  and  fall  to  the  lot  of  whoever  should 
waken  her.  The  tragic  guilt,  or  necessity,  in  Brtinnhilde  here 
seems  to  me  to  be  somewhere  between  that  of  Schiller  and  that  of 
Hebbel.  She  has  not  a  sense  of  guilt  as,  for  example,  Johanna 
felt  it.  She  felt  that  she  was  carrying  out  her  mission  even  in 
disobeying  instructions  and  she  was  following  her  noblest  im- 
pulse of  pity  and  sacrifice  for  what  seemed  to  her  a  noble  hero 
and  a  worthy  cause.  On  the  other  hand,  the  god's  command  was 
not  to  be  defied  and  by  the  nature  of  her  human  view  and  human 
feeling  she  no  longer  fits  into  her  surroundings  nor  may  she  be  the 
trusted  servant  of  the  god. 

Wotan,  of  course,  has  a  tragic  guilt  in  the  sense  in  which 
Schiller  conceived  it,  a  guilt  which  has  brought  him  into  further 
entanglement,  so  that  now  he  is  the  creature  of  circumstances  and 
is  forced  to  deal  injustice  to  those  he  loves,  as  well  as  those  he 
has  not  thought  it  worth  while  to  consider.  He  gives  here  the 
impression  of  a  more  noble  purpose  tho  it  has  not  been  intro- 
duced before  and  is  not  now  clear.  When  we  recall  the  end  of 
Rheingold  we  may  wonder  whether  he  is  not  deceiving  him- 
self. Otherwise  we  must  think  that  the  chief  growth  in  his  char- 
aracter  has  taken  place  ofP  the  stage.  There  has  been  lapse  of 
time,  to  be  sure,  to  allow  for  this,  but  not  even  a  narrative  to  ac- 

(153) 


30 

connt  f<n'  it,  nor  lias  liis  modo  of  n(*ti()n  since  his  icappenranco 
Idvpai'cd  ns.  Tlic  new  motive  lo  wliicli  I  refer  is  sn<;«ieste(l  in  the 
lines:  "So  h'ichi  wahntest  du/  Wonne  <ler  Welt  erwoi-hen,  wo 
hrenneiur    Weh',       in   das      llerz      mil'    hraeh,  wo   sz;raszliehe 

Xoth;  den  (Jrimm  mir  schuf,/  eiuei'  Well  zii  laehe/  der 
Liehe  C^n*'"  '"'  ^ecinalten  Herzen  zii  liemmen?"  Ho\v 
does  he  think  he  is  beuelilinji,  the  world  liv  the  death  of  Sieji;- 
nmnd?  Are  we  to  believe  that  he  lias  in  his  heart  accepted 
Fricka's  view  of  the  order  of  things,  or  that  he  foresees  the  events 
and  ontcome  of  the  two  following  dramas?  His  foresi<i;ht,  in  tlie 
latter  case,  varies  iireatly,  and  we  <lo  not  have  the  feeling  that  he 
has  any  more  inclination  toward  the  conventional  order  than  for- 
merly, tho  he  sees  himself  forced  to,  submit  to  it.  We  may  per- 
hai)s  think  that  he  has  C(mie  to  believe  that  fJiis  law,  or  conven- 
tion, is  necessary,  that  he  cannot  esca])e  it  and  ninst,  therefore, 
give  place  to  others:  "Wo  gegen  micli  selbst/  ich  sehrend  niich 
waudte,/  ans  Ohnmacht,  Schmerzen/  schiiiimend  ich  anfschosz, 
etc.     Concerning  this  attitude  ccnnment  has  been  made  (]).  22). 

That  Briinnhilde  should  demand  a  fearless  hero  is  in  kee])- 
ing  with  our  conception  of  her  and  our  feelings  concerning  her 
deserts.  Wotan's  speech :  "W^^r  meines  Speeres/  S])itze 
ftirchtet,/  durchschreite  das  Feuer  nie"  prepares  us  for  the  later 
encounter  with  Siegfried. 


(154) 


81 


Siegfried 

Act  I,  Scene  I. 

In  the  first  scene  of  Siegfried  we  find  Mime  forging  for 
the  youth  a  sword,  in  despair,  however,  as  Siegfried  has  broken 
the  preceding  masterpiece.  Mime  has  been  unsuccessful  in  liis  at- 
tempt to  weld  the  broken  sword  while  (in  part  presumably  from 
Sieglinde's  disclosure  to  him,  tho  we  find  in  his  later  conversation 
with  Wotan  that  he  knows  the  whole  progTess  of  events)  he  feels 
sure  that  this  sword  in  the  hands  of  Siegfried  would  accom])lisli 
his  purpose.  That  is,  he  hopes  thru  Siegfried  to  overcome  Fafner 
and  thru  him  to  gain  possession  of  the  Nibelungen  ring  (a  desire 
ar(msed  in  the  third  scene  of  RheingohL)  That  only  this 
sword  should  accomplish  ^he  deed  is  an  arbitrary  motivation, 
taken  from  mythology,  but  has  justification  in  that  Siegfried,  of 
semi-divine  parentage,  should  find  any  mortal  sword  too  fragile 
for  his  superhuman  strength. 

Scene  II. 

The  second  scene  of  Siegfried  is  expositional,  giving  us 
the  characterization  of  Mime  and  Siegfried,  their  attitude  toward 
each  other  with  the  reasons  for  it.  We  find  that  Mime  has  come 
to  the  aid  of  the  unhappy  Sieglinde  and  has  received  into  his 
charge  the  infant  Siegfried  and  the  sword  pieces.  In  the  hope  of 
overcoming  Fafner  and  winning  thru  the  boy  the  power-giving 
ring  he  has  tried  without  any  feeling  of  real  affection  himself  to 
win  that  of  Siegfried.  From  his  very  lavishness  and  reiteration  of 
his  care,  however,  the  latter  feels  an  instinctively  strong  antipathy, 
reading  his  character  aright,  as  is  common  among  children  (Dr. 
Karsten's  suggestion,  in  a  conversation  about  these  scenes. )  By 
instinct  they  discern  the  difference  between  a  real  interest  and  a. 
pretense.     Mime  has  evidently  fostered  the  lad's  desire  for  a 

(155) 


32 

sword,  a  desire  aroused  easily  because  of  the  latter's  own  desire 
for  activity  and  dissatisfaction  with  his  surroundings.  We  find 
the  voutli  inipationt,  boisterous,  craviug  deeds,  feeling  sympathy 
with  nature  of  which  he  has  been  a  most  interested  observer.  The 
breaking  of  swords  on  the  stage  serves  the  purpose  of  showing 
this  boisterousness  and  feeling  of  necessity  for  action  while  the  re- 
peated failure  increases  Mime's  chagrin  and  anxiety  and  forms  a 
contrast  to  the  climax  of  the  successful  sword.  The  receiving  of 
the  sword  pieces  and  the  learning  of  his  parentage  lead  to  Sieg- 
fried's determination  to  leave  Mime  for  a  new  and  active  life, 
a  fact  which  increases  Mime's  haste  to  make  use  of  him.  The 
bear  incident  is  episodical,  tho  it  illustrates  the  lad's  daring,  his 
discontent  (from  which  springs  in  part  his  longing  to  be  up  and 
away)  and  serves  to  increase  Mime's  fear  of  Siegfried  and  anx- 
iety to  make  the  sword.  Mime's  dilemma  prepares  for  the  next 
scene. 

Scene  III. 

The  value  of  the  third  scene  lies,  of  course,  in  Wotan's  dis- 
closure of  the  secret  of  the  welding  of  the  sword  and  his  an- 
nouncement of  the  death  of  Mime  at  the  hands  of  Siegfried.  This 
scene  has  its  prototype  in  the  Edcla  but  the  introduction  of  this 
Germanic  custom  of  winning  shelter  thru  wit  in  giving  and  ans- 
wering questions  seemed  to  me  at  first  to  be  merely  episodical.  It 
does  not  lead  to  Mime's  determination  to  kill  Siegfried,  for  that, 
we  may  suppose,  he  already  intended  for  the  purpose  of  gaining 
the  ring.  However,  it  seems  plausible  to  regard  the  scene,  as  Dr. 
Karsten  suggested,  as  preparatory  to  Mime's  silly  conduct  in  the 
following  scene  and  in  the  sixth  scene  of  the  second  act. 

That  the  fact  "that  he  had  not  learned  fear"  should  enable 
an  ignorant  youth  to  forge  the  weapon  that  had  batHed  the  skilled 
smith  seems  at  first  glance  absurd.  However,  it  is  not  unnatural 
that  ]\Iime's  excessive  eagerness  and  fear  at  so  colossal  a  project 
as  the  killing  of  Fafner  sliould  only  thwart  his  purpose,  while 
Siegfried's  confidence  comes  to  his  aid — only   the  daring  ones 

(156) 


accomplish  what  seems  impossible.  Siegfried  has  also  had  some 
instruction.  The  incident  of  Siegfried's  making  the  sword  himself 
is  doubtless  suggested  by  Uhland,  but  not  the  requirement  that 
the  swordmaker  should  be  without  fear,  Tlie  requirement  is,  of 
course,  in  keeping  with  that  of  the  whole  career  of  Siegfried,  but 
the  fact  that  it  comes  from  outside  instead  of  developing  from 
Siegfried's  own  needs  and  desire  to  surmount  them  seems  again  to 
be  rather  the  epic  style  of  motivation.  Whether  the  hero's  whole 
career  is  not,  from  the  drainatic  standpoint,  somewhat  artifically 
motivated  may  be  questioned;  for  while  Wotan  refrains  from  all 
direct  interference,  do  we  not,  nevertheless,  have  the  impression 
that  he  gives  indirect  suggestion,  such  as  that  to  Mime  and  that 
in  the  messages  from  the  birds;  that  is,  the  prompting  of  those 
feelings  or  motives  in  Siegfried  for  which  Wotan  disclaims  the  re- 
sponsibility and  which  he  later  combats? 

The  fact  that  the  hero's  career  is  so  in  harmony  with  Wotan's 
wishes  leads  us  to  expect  their  consummation  in  him. 

Scene  IV. 

Frantic  at  the  prospects  of  his  own  doom  and  yet  eager  that 
Siegfried  shall  win  for  him  the  ring.  Mime  thinks  of  the  plan  of 
teaching  him  fear  in  the  encounter  with  Fafner,  ostensibly  to  pre- 
pare the  youth  to  go  out  into  the  world,  tho  he  has  already  said 
to  the  latter:    "verfallen,  verlor  ich's  (das  Haupt)  an  den,/    'der 
das  Fiirchten  nicht  gelernt.'  ''    Tho  Siegfried  after  Mime's  descrip- 
tion of  it  naively  consents  to  try  to  learn  this  feeling  we  are  not 
to  suppose  him  to  be  utterly  stupid.      He  has  no  expectation  of 
learning  fear,  regards  Mime  as  a  mere  bungler,  and  thinks  of  this 
as  only  some  more  of  his  nonsense.    We  have  in  the  lad  an  amus- 
ing mixture  of  apparent  boyish  docility  and  innate  antipathy,  cor- 
rect intuition — a  queer  but  charming  combination.    He  distrusts 
the  smith  instinctively,  in  general,  and  we  may  feel  that  he  has 
in  a  measure  understood  some  of  Mime's  stupidly  open  remarks. 
He  says    "was  er  kocht,  ich  kost'  es  ihm  nicht,"  tho,  to  be  sure, 

(157) 


34 

his  ruiitempt  for  his  foster- fat h<'r  would  be  suflBcient  reason  for  his 
attitude  without  auj'  specific  fear  of  Mime's  treachery.  We  may 
think  of  the  lad  jjs  not  knowing  fear  but  nevertheless  knowing  how 
to  avoid  harm. 

The  si)littiug  of  the  anvil  is  merely  episodical,  tlio,  together 
w  itii  the  other  episodes,  it  gives  us  an  impression  of  the  youth's 
extraordinary  strength  and  spirit.  This  boistcrousness  has,  how- 
ever, been  relieved  by  his  joyonsness  and  the  tenderness  of  his  at- 
titude toward  nature  and  toward  his  mother. 

Act  II,  Scene  I. 
The  second  act  presents  a  second  meeting  between  Wotan  and 
Alberich.  (p.  T(> )  (lolther  sa3's  concerning  the  scene:  "Ernst 
und  erhaben  schreitet  eine  (Jestalt  durch  dies  Drama,  der  Wand- 
erer," and  quotes  Wagner's  explanation:  ''Wotan  ist  nach  dem 
Abschied  von  Briinnhild  in  Wahrheit  nur  noch  ein  abgeschieden- 
er  Geist:  seiner  hochsten  Absicht  nach  kann  er  nur  noch  gewiihrcn 
lassen,'-  etc.  As  far  as  any  effect,  then,  on  the  following  action 
is  concerned  the  scene  is  purely  episodical.  We  have  already  been 
told,  too,  of  Wotan's  determination  to  lay  down  his  work,  so  that 
his  attitude  "zu  schauen  und  nicht  zu  schaffen"  affords  no  further 
exposition  of  character.  It  is  a  question  whether  the  god  rises  in 
our  esteem  thru  this  scene,  tho  he  no  longer  tries  to  do  anything 
in  his  own  interest,  and  ostensibly  his  object  is  in  a  measure  to  re- 
pair the  wrong  he  has  done  by  directing  Alberich  now  in  plans 
that  mcui  aid  the  latter  in  regaining  his  lost  property.  In  spite 
of  his  suggestions  to  the  dwarf,  however,  we  feel  conscious  that 
Wotan  knows  all  the  time  A'hat  the  outcome  will  be  and  that  Al- 
berich's  efforts  are  vain.  By  giving  these  directions,  the  god  seeks, 
perhaps,  to  clear  his  conscience  in  the  matter,  but  with  Alberich 
we  must  regard  him  as  showing  his  real  feeling  in  his  laugh  at 
Alberich's  failure  to  persuade  Fafner.  He  cannot,  then,  to  me 
seem  so  "ernst  und  erhaben." 

It  may  be  said  that  he  is  rightfully  i)leased  at  the  failure  of 
the  power  (»f  evil,  but  why  this  mockery,  then,  of  pretending  to 

(158) 


35 

further  its  power?  Is  this  <iUother  example  snch  as  ITebbel  speaks 
of  when  he  says:  "Es  giebt  Falle,  wo  Pfliclit-Erfiillen  siindigen 
heiszt?"^  There  seems  to  me  to  be  no  dramatic  necessity  for  this 
scene,  however. 

If  Wotan  had  here  succeeded  in  returning  the  ring  to  Al- 
berich  and  righting  the  wrong  he  had  done,  it  would,  of  course, 
have  meant  his  own  downfall  in  accordance  with  Alberich's  pur- 
pose of  revenge.  But  the  case  would  not  luive  been  otherwise  if 
Wotan  had  not  done  this  wrong,  from  tlie  consequence  of  Al- 
berich's vow,  a  matter  which  has  been  discussed.^ 

In  regard  to  Wotan's  weakness,  of  which  Alberich  taunts 
him,  in  that  he  is  bound  bv  his  bargains  because  of  the  runes  on 
his  spear,  discussion  has  been  offered  above.=^  His  spear  with  the 
runes  must,  naturally,  be  only  symbolical  of  his  power  and  con- 
tract. A  new  impression  is  produced  here,  however  -.^ /  "was  mit 
den  Trotzigen/  einst  du  vertragen/  dess'  Runen  wahrt  noch 
heuty  deines  Speeres  herrischer  Schaft./  Nicht  du  darfst/  was 
als  Zoll  du  bezahlt/  den  Riesen  wieder  entreiszen:/  du  selbst 
zerspelltest/  deines  Speeres  Schaft;/  in  deiner  Hand/  der 
herrische  Stab,/  der  starke  zerstiebte  wie  Spreu."  Does  not  this 
imply  that  Wotan  could  ninv  maintain  his  power  as  long  as  he  is 
true  to  the  runes,  provided  that  Alberich  is  not  able  to  take 
advantage  of  his  inability  by  gaining  the  ring  himself?  If,  then, 
Alberich  is  circumvented  at  last,  can  we  say  that  the  plot  is  con- 
sistent or  logical?  Has  not  Wotan,  then,  expiated  by  his  torment 
of  mind?  Do  we  not  now  expect  better  things  of  him  in  compen- 
sation for  his  wickedness  than  mere  surrender?  Is  it  enough 
simply  to  put  an  end  to  the  curse?  Do  we  not  expect  him  now, 
without  the  aim  of  his  own  happiness  or  power,  to  carry  on  the 
work  of  the  world?  Judging  from  his  past,  however,  he  is  perhaps 
not  capable  of  it,  so  that  to  rise  to  the  height  of  the  philosophy 


'Tgb.  I,  805,  Friedrich  Hebbel.     Sfinitliche  Werke.   (Werner's  edition)  Ber- 
lin, 1907. 

-cf.  on  Rheingohl.  pp-  12-14. 
■'cf.  on  Walkiire,  p.  22. 
"cf.  on  Walkiire,  p.  22. 

(159) 


36 

of  negation  was  the  best  he  could  do.  Whatever  philosophy  Wag- 
ner nionnt  to  (»xj)((uii(l,  his  oliief  god  certainly  lacks  virility  and 
lessens  thus  our  sympathy  with  his  tragic  end.^ 

Still  another  statement  in  the  scene  is  worthy  of  considera- 
tion :  "Wen  ich  lieb/  lass'ich  fiir  sich  gewahren ;/  Helden  nur 
konnen  mir  fronimen."  This,  too,  produces  the  impression  that 
Siegfried's  achievements  will  be  of  use  to  Wotan,  tho  he  may  re- 
fer only  to  the  removal  of  the  curse.  It  may  refer  back  to  "dem 
wonnigsten  Walsung/  weis'  ich  mein  Erbe  nun  an...."/  con- 
cerning which  Wagner  says:  *'Das  Schopfungwerk  dieses  hoch- 
sten  selbst  vernichtenden  Willens,  ist  der  endlich  gewonnene 
furchtlose,  liebende  Mensch,  Siegfried." 

Does  it  mean  that  Wotan  intends,  then,  to  renounce  his  power 
in  favor  of  Siegfried? — This  view  is  held  by  Robert.-  Toncern- 
ing  Siegmuud  Kostlin-^  says  Wotan's  aim  was  "die  ErAvecknng 
eines  Helden,  welcher.  .  .  .selbst  aus  eigenem  Trieb  dieses  Werk 
unternehmen  wird  ohne  Gefahr  oder  jedoch  jedenfalls  ohne  so 
grosze  Gefahr  fiir  die  Gotter,  wie  sie  von  den  Riesen  sowol  als 
von  Zwergeu  droht"  aud^  "er  will.  .  .  .bewirkeu,  dasz....der 
Herrschaftsring  an  einen  Menchen,  welcher  den  Gottern  nicht 
feind  ist,  welchem  vielmehr  Wotan,  wenn  es  niclit  anders  mehr 
gehen  sollte,  die  Weltherrschaft  abzutreten  nicht  ungeneigt  ware, 
da  er  seines  eigenen  Stanmies  und  Geschlechtes  ist."  Kostlin  - 
points  out  that  this  hero  could  not  be  a  god  because  they  were 
all  involved  in  the  contract.    It  would  be  absurd,  however,  to  think 


•Wagner's  view  (in  a  letter  to  Roeckel  Jan.  25,  lSr)4):  "Dies  ist  alles.  was 
wlr  aus  der  Geschichte  der  Menschhelt  zu  lernen  haben:  das  Notwendige  zu 
wollen  und  selbst  zu  voUbringen."  suggests  a  similar  view  of  Hebbel's  (Tgb. 
II,  2504)  :  "Der  Mensch  hat  freien  Wlllen — d.  h.  er  kann  einwilllgen  in's  Noth- 
wendige!"  Since,  then,  Wotan  seems  "in's  Nothwendige  nicht  einwilligen  zu 
konnen,"  the  only  thing  left  for  him  is  "die  Verneinung  des  Willens."  Wotan, 
in  accord  with  Wagner's  view  of  tragic  exaltation,  however,  goes  a  step  farther 
in  not  only  seeming  to  will  his  submission  but  to  bring  on  his  doom  himself 
after  it  has  been  warded  off,  a  situation  that  seems  very  much  forced. 

'Robert.  Gustave:   Philofiophie  et  Drame.  Paris,  1907. 

'Kostlin,  Karl:  Richard  Wagners  Tondranio.:  Der  RUig  des  Nibelumgen 
p.  41. 

*Id.  pp.  45-46. 

(160) 


37 

of  the  rule  of  the  universe  as  placed  in  the  hands  of  a  mortal.  We 
must  surely  think  of  Siegfried  as  AVotan's  heir  only  in  so  far  as  he 
takes  up  Wotan's  work  of  returning  the  gold  to  the  Rhine.  Tho 
Wotan  did  intend  the  later  encounter  with  Siegfried,  he  did  not 
expect  the  breaking  of  his  spear.  We  have  a  feeling  of  disap- 
pointment on  his  part  then — certainly  no  feeling  of  exaltation 
in  his  submission  to  his  fate. 

Alberich's  last  speech  in  the  scene  prepares  for  his  schemes 
in  Gdtterddmmerung:  "Doch  lacht  nur  zu,"/  ....So  lange  das 
Gold/  im  Lichte  glanzt,/  halt  ein  Wissender  Wacht :/  triigen 
wird  euch  sein  Trotz." 

Scene  II. 

The  second  scene  prepares  for  the  later  ones  in  bringing 
Siegfried  and  Mime  to  the  place  of  action  and  in  Mime's  vain  ef- 
forts to  produce  the  sensation  of  fear  in  Siegfried's  heart.  It 
may  perhaps  be  a  question  whether  Mime  really  wishes  to  in- 
spire fear  as  yet  since  that  would  defeat  the  very  purpose  for 
which  he  had  come;  on  the  other  hand  because  of  Wotan's  pro- 
phecy, he  does  hope  to  produce  it  at  the  same  time  that  Siegfried 
shall  kill  the  monster.  However  that  may  be,  whether  from  his 
shrewdness  or  his  stupidity.  Mime's  apparent  efforts  to  inspire 
fear  have  the  opposite  effect. 

There  is  further  preparation  for  the  later  scenes  in  Sieg- 
fried's feeling  which  causes  him  to  warn  the  smith  to  depart  if 
he  values  his  life.  His  disgust  at  Mime  becomes  insupportable, 
since  the  hero  has  learned  his  own  parentage  and  made  his  own 
sword,  while  Mime's  eagerness  for  the  ring  leads  the  smith  to 
his  death. 

Scene  III. 

The  third  scene  is  episodical  but  presents  again  the  tenderer 
side  of  Siegfried's  nature — his  longing  for  his  mother,  (together 
with  his  joy  at  separation  from  Mime)  and  sympathy  with  nature, 
whicli  prepares  for  his  later  understanding  of  the  birds.  It  ends 
with  the  blast  from  his  horn  which  rouses  Fafner. 

(161) 


38 

Scene  IV. 
Tn  scene  4,  Sie<::fi'i(Ml  fulfills  the  curse  iiimn  Fafiier,  his  own 
spirit  pi'oiujjtiug  him  to  kill  the  monster  that  threatens  him.  The 
creature  warns  him  of  the  curse  upon  the  gold  and  of  the  inten- 
tions of  Mime — a  warning  which,  tlio  the  youth  seems  to  pay  lit- 
tle heed  to  it,  heli)s  to  make  that  of  the  birds  unnecessary.  The 
transcendental  element,  in  that  the  forest  bird  tells  him  of  the 
treasure  is  not  inharmonious  with  the  prom])tings  of  his  own  cur- 
iosity— his  instinct  to  explore.  (It  recalls  also  the  coiiiuninion  of 
the  innocent  Donatelh* — in  Hawthorne's  MdrhJc  Faini — with  the 
creatures  about  him.)  That  Siegfried- is  not  influenced  by  the 
bird's  promise  concerning  the  ring:  "der  macht  ihn  zum  Walter 
der  Welt/"  is  shown  by  his  words  upon  securing  the  booty  as  also 
by  his  later  attitude  in  the  scene  with  the  Rhine  maids.  There, 
too,  it  is  shown  that  he  was  conscious  of  the  dragon's  warning  but 
regarded  it  as  part  of  the  attempt  to  teach  him  fear.  He  was 
committing  no  wrong  and  needed  not  therefore  to  fear  a  curse. 
Thruout  the  scene  he  has  a  mixtui'c  of  naivete,  that  keeps  him  fr«)m 
the  comprehension  of  the  meaning  of  these  things,  together  with 
a  confidence,  a  self-sufficiency,  that  gives  him  rightfully  the  feeling 
of  indifference  and  security. 

Scene  V. 

The  fifth  scene  is  merely  episodical — a  mere  wrangling  be- 
tween Alberich  and  Mime  regarding  their  respective  rights  to  the 
booty,  and  an  expression  of  disa])]M)intmcnt  at  finding  it  in  the  ])OS- 
scssioii  of  Siegfried.  W'hih'  .Mime  has  hope  for  himself,  Alberich 
merely  disappears  with  the  words:  "T'ud  doch  seinem  Herrn/ 
soil  er  noch  gehoren"/ — without  any  attempt  to  gain  his  desires, 
another  case  of  arbitrary  motivation,  it  seems  to  me.  There  was, 
however,  good  reason  to  suppose  that  Siegfried  would  not  cousider 
any  assertions  (►f  ownership  on  the  ])art  of  the  dwarf,  nor  could 
the  latter  <'ope  with  tin*  youth's  strength. 

Srcnr  17. 

In   this  scene  teiror  and  eagerness  lead  ^lime,  as  Dr.   Kar- 

(162) 


3D 

sten  expressed  it,  to  use  the  language  of  self-expression  instead 
of  that  of  impression,  or  communication,  as  he  intended,  thus  re- 
vealing the  very  plot  he  Avished  to  conceal  and  bringing  about 
his  speedy  death.  This  foolishness  on  the  part  of  ^lime  makes 
the  warning  of  the  birds  unnecessary  or  only  symbolical  of  the 
lad's  own  understanding  of  human  nature,  a  use  of  symbolism 
quite  in  keeping  with  Hebbel's  idea. 

The  slaying  of  Mime  marks  the  third  tragic  ending  due  to 
desire  for  gold,  Mime  meeting  the  same  fate  as  Fasolt  and  Faf- 
ner. 

The  story  at  this  point  (as  also  in  Siegfried's  obtaining  of 
ring  and  Tarnhelm)  is  epic,  rather  than  dramatic  in  its  manner 
of  progress,  as  the  prompting  to  seek  Briinnhilde  has  no  other 
motivation  than  the  following  of  the  forest  bird  in  quest  of  an- 
other adventure.  The  use  of  the  symbolical  again  is  not  offensive 
as  it  is  in  accord  with  Siegfried's  feeling  of  loneliness  and  desire 
for  companionship — some  critics  call  it  an  undefined  desire  for 
love,  in  which  case  one  should  lay  the  emphasis  on  "undefined." 
It  does  not  seem  natural  that  the  inexperienced  Siegfried  should 
so  suddenly  have  so  definite  a  desire  as  for  a  bride  and  tlie  sugges- 
tion from  the  birds  is  decidedly  epic  rather  than  dramatic.  The 
incident  does  not  grow  out  of  any  previous  action  or  plot  other 
than  the  impulse  supposedly  caused  by  Wotan.  From  this  point 
of  view,  what  follows  is  a  part  of  the  Wotan-drama  but  it  is  very 
loosely  connected  as  far  as  the  course  of  the  human  characters  is 
concerned — is  of  the  same  type  of  motivation  as  that  in  the  case 
of  Siegmund  and  Sieglinde. 

Siegfried's  setting  out  leads,  of  course,  to  the  next  act. 

Act  III  J  Scene  I. 
The  conversation  between  Wotan  and  Erda  is  purely  episodi- 
cal. It  consists  largely  of  a  narrative  of  past  events,  due  again 
no  doubt  to  Wagner's  reverse  order  of  writing  the  dramas.  It 
seems  absurd,  however,  that  Wotan  should  summon  Erda  at  all, 
simply  to  tell  her  of  his  attitude  toward  liis  approaching  doom. 

(163) 


40 

Reference  has  been  made  to  his  speech :  ^  "Urwissend/  stachest 
du  einst/  der  Sorge  Stachrl/  in  Wotan's  wagendes  Herz:"  etc. 
One  critic  sjieaks  of  it  as  ]»art  of  the  result  of  his  guilt  that  he 
should  be  engaged  in  a  continued  vain  endeavor  to  evade  a  fate 
that  he  knows  beforehand  he  cannot  escape:  "sage  mir  nun:/ 
wie  besiegt  die  Sorge  der  Gott?"  The  scene  may  i)erhaps  lend  ad- 
ditional color  to  his  despair  but  it  adds  notliing  to  the  action  of  the 
drama  and  for  that  reason  even  detracts  from  the  expected  concen- 
tration of  the  dramatic  form. 

I  have  already  discussed  (p.  33)  Wotan's  statement:  "Ein 
kiihnster  Knabe,/  meines  Kathes  bar,/  errang  des  Nibelungen 
Ring."/  It  was  thru  Wotan,  indirectly,  that  it  was  possible  for 
Siegfried  to  have  the  instrument  with  which  to  kill  Fafnor,  tho 
it  is  true  that  the  youth's  course  of  action  was  wholly  in  keeping 
with  his  own  instinct.  The  drama  of  gods  and  men  is  a  some- 
what complicated  matter.  In  the  preceding  drama,  it  seemed  an 
artificial  motivation  to  think  of  Wotan  as  giving  the  human  char- 
acters impulses  and  bringing  them  into  conditions  to  suit  his  will, 
while  on  the  other  hand  here  it  seems  a  preposterous  state  of  af- 
fairs that  the  god  should  stand  aside  and  leave  the  world  to  take 
care  of  itself — tho  the  situation  is  made  necessary  by  Wotan's  new 
attitude  and  his  stipulation  for  the  effective  hero.  It  was  a  diffi- 
cult problem  and  it  does  not  seem  to  me  that  Wagner  has  solved  it 
in  any  convincing  way,  from  the  dramatic  standpoint  at  least. 
Wotan's  relation  to  Siegfri('d  reminds  one  of  a  current  conception 
of  free  will  and  divine  guidance  wliicli  tries  to  assort  botli,  a  com- 
mon Phristian  idea  being  that  of  divine  guidance  in  man's  good 
acts — of  course,  as  here,  in  accord  with  man's  character — and 
man's  own  res])onsibility  f(/r  the  wrongs  he  commits.- 

'ff.  on  Rhenigold.  p.  17. 

'It  is  interesting  in  passing  to  recall  Hebbel's  view  (Tgb.  I.  973):  "Nicht 
seine  Wirkungen  nach  auszen,  der  Einflusz,  den  er  auf  Welt  und  Leben  ausiibt. 
nur  seine  Wirkungen  nach  innen.  seine  Reinigung  und  Lauterung.  hangt  von 
dem  Willen  des  Menschen  ab.  Er  ist  d'e  von  unsichtbarer  Hand  geschwungene 
Axt,  die  sifh  selbst  schleift.  Tn  diesem  Sinne  konnte  man  sagen:  der  Mensch 
thut  sein  Schlimmes  selbst;  sein  Gutes  wirken  Gott  und  Natur  durch  ihn.  Dies 
Alles  ist  so  wahr,  dasz  gerade,  was  unbewuszt  als  Wirkung  von  ihru  ausgeht, 
alles  Andere  bei  weitem  iibertriff!." 

(164) 


41 
Scene  II. 

Siegfried's  conduct  in  the  second  scene  is  quite  in  harmony 
with  that  of  the  scenes  with  Mime.  In  the  earlier  scenes  his 
conduct,  however,  was  relieved  by  his  sympathy  with  nature  and 
feeling  for  his  mother,  but  his  treatment  of  Wotan  reminds  us  of 
the  common,  summary  treatment  of  vagrants — tho  it  was  provok- 
ed by  Wotan  and  is  in  accord  with  the  independence  of  the  youth's 
heroic  spirit,  and  Siegfried's  ind'ependence  of  Wotan  is  what  Wag- 
ner is  trying  to  show.  Nevertheless,  his  impudence  and  use  of 
abusive  epithets  help  to  produce  a  scene  of  low-comedy  that  re- 
minds one  of  the  degenerate  type  of  the  sixteenth  century.  It  is 
the  more  striking  since — tho,  of  course,  unconsciously — Siegfried 
is  speaking  to  the  chief  of  the  gods.  A  scene  of  this  type  is,  how- 
ever, found  in  Harharthsjoth  of  the  Eclda,  tlio  between  two  gods, 
Thor  and  Odin. 

The  encounter  was  prepared  for  at  the  end  (^f  Walkuere  and 
was  commented  upon  above.     ( cf .  pp.  26  &  37. ) 

The  lines:  "Mit  dem  Auge,/  das  als  and'res  mir  fehlt,/ 
erblickst  du  selber  das  eine/  das  mir  zum  Sehen  verblieb"  seem 
to  me  oracular  und  highly  absurd  even  from  tlie  point  of  view  of 
a  myth,  in  spite  of  H.  v.  Wolzogen's  explanation,  ^  quoted  by 
Meinck  (p.  88)  :  "Wotan  erlangt  das  Wissen  nur  um  die  Hingabe 
der  Halfte  seiner  Kraft,  d.h.  durch  seine  Selbstteilung,  worin  di^ 
Doppelseitigkeit  seines  Wesens  besteht;''  etc.  Meinck's  own  ex- 
planation is :  "dasz  Wotan  zur  Erlangung  der  hochsten  Weisheit, 
seiner  Gemahlin  Fricka  und  endlich  des  freien  Helden  Siegfried, 
der  ein  verjtingtes  Abbild  von  Wotan's  Wesen  darstellt,  ein  Auge 
dahingegeben,  d.h.  einen  Toil  seines  Selbst  geopfert  hat."  ^ 

^Bai/reuther  Blatter  1878,  S.  357  Anm. 

^cf.  also  Robert  (p.  62):  "La  premiere  faute  de  Wotan.  es'  d'avoir  cesse 
d'etre  un  instinctif,  d'avoir  voulu  posseder  la  science,"  etc.  Wagner  in  bis  let- 
ter to  Roeckel,  Jan.  25,  1854,  speaks  of  Wotan's  relation  to  Fricl^a  as  the  "root 
of  the  mstter,"  i.  e.  the  fact  that  Wotan  was  susceptible  to  evil,  and  says: 
"The  necessity  of  prolonging  beyond  the  point  of  change  the  subjection  to  the 
tie  that  binds  them — a  tie  resulting  from  an  involuntary  illusion  of  love,  the 
duty  of  maintaining  at  all  costs  the  relation  into  which  they  have  entered 
and  so  placing  themselves  in  hopeless  opposition  to  the  universal  law  of  change 
and  renewal,  which  governs  the  world  of  phenomena — these  are  the  condi- 
tions which  bring  the  pair  of  them  to  a  state  of  torment  and  mutual  lo\eless- 
ness."  Wagner  does  not  develop  this  motivation  with  any  clearness  or  con- 
sistency, however,  and  Robert's  interpretation  would  make  of  Wotan  only  a 
blind  force.     Was  he  not  following  instinct  when  he  sought  reason? 


42 

The  speech  seems  to  me,  however,  to  have  no  further  value 
than  to  jjive  the  impression  that  this  wise  god  knows  something 
beyond  the  com])relionsion  of  mortals.  There  is  perhaps  some  at- 
tempt to  rouse  symi)ath3'  on  the  part  of  Siegfried,  of  course. 

Critics  have  been  greatly  puzzled  about  the  scene.  Kostlin 
(04)  speaks  of  Wotan's  attitude  "wie  wenn  es  ihn  reute,  Siegfried 
so  mjichtig  werden  zu  lassen,  ihm  den  Weg  zu  Rriinnliilden  ver- 
sperren  will."  Wagner  himself  in  liis  letter  to  Koeckel,  Jan.  25, 
1854^  says  of  Wotan :  "In  the  presence  of  his  impending  destruc- 
tion, the  god  has  at  last  become  completely  human  that — contrary 
to  his  high  resolve — there  is  once  more  a  stirring  of  his  ancient 
pride,  brought  about  by  his  jealousy  for  IJriinnhilde — his  vulner- 
able point,  as  it  has  now  become.  He  will,  so  to  speak,  not  allow 
himself  to  be  merely  thrust  aside;  he  chooses  rather  to  fall  be- 
fore the  conquering  might  of  Siegfried.  Rut  this  part  is  so  little 
premeditated  and  intentional,  that  in  a  sudden  burst  of  passion 
the  longing  for  victory  overDowers  him,  a  victory,  moreover,  which 
he  admits  could  only  have  made  him  more  miserable." 

The  speech :  "Ftirchtest  das  Feuer  du  nicht,/  so  sperre  mein 
Speer  dir  den  Weg!"  etc.  precipitates  the  encounter  and  the  break- 
ing of  his  spear,  by  appealing  to  the  youth's  feeling  of  loyalty  to 
his  father  and  consequent  instinct  of  revenge. — The  fact  that  the 
youth  should  be  able  to  break  the  spear,  too,  has  been  the  subject 
of  much  criticism.  ^  The  encounter  explains  itself  most  naturally 
on  tlie  whole  if  we  think  of  Wotan  as  having  succeeded  better  than 
he  wished  (since  Siegfried's  heroism  excludes  respect  or  sympathy 
for  others  I  and  again  as  unable  to  throw  off  his  habit  of  governing 
and  in  his  effort  to  prove  Siegfried  fearless  inciting  him  to  a  dis- 
play of  disrespect  that  he  cannot  himself  tolerate,  causing  thus  the 
encounter. 

Such  motivation  as:  ''Yerschlossen  halt  meine  ]\racht  die 
schlafende  Maid/  wer  sie  erweckte,/  wer  sic  gowiinne,/  macht- 
los  maclit'  er  inicli  ewigl"  seems  to  me  again  purely  capricious  mo- 

'Cf.  Drews  (pp.  91-2). 

066) 


43 

tivation.  Wotan  had  sunk  Briinnhilde  into  sleep,  saying  that  only 
he  who  feared  not  his  spear  should  waken  her  but  that  did  not 
necessarily  involve  the  breaking  of  the  spear,  as  this  fearlessness 
was  sufficiently  evinced  by  Siegfried's  display  of  spirit. 

Another  incident  that  seems  inexplicable  is :  "Es  [das  Vog- 
lienjfloh  dir  zu  seinem  Heil,/  den  Herrn  der  Raben/  errieth  er 
hier:/  weh  ihm,  holen  sie  's  ein!"  What  other  bird  is  this  sup- 
posed to  be,  then,  if  not  one  of  Wotan's  birds?  Or  are  we  to  look 
upon  this  as  an  attempt  to  deceive  Siegfried,  thus  putting  him 
more  fully  upon  his  own  responsibility? 

The  hero's  explanation :  "Strahlend  offen/  steht  mir  die 
Strasze. . ./  Im  Feuer  zu  flnden  die  Braut,"  appeals  to  me  as  too 
rapid  development  to  be  natural  (cf.  p.  39).  The  suggestion  by 
the  bird  affords  motivation  but  it  does  not  make  plausible,  from  a 
dramatic  point  of  view.  It  would  have  seemed  more  convincing 
if  the  youth  had  referred  to  the  maid  in  such  a  way  after  finding 
her;  for  we  do  not  think  of  Siegfried  as  a  medieval  knight  going 
out  in  search  of  a  lady  but  only  as  a  naive  youth  in  quest  of  ad- 
venture and  desirous  of  companionship.  It  may,  as  Dr.  Wiehr  has 
suggested,  be  a  matter  of  wonder  as  to  where  Siegfried  obtained 
his  concept  of  "bride."  He  did  form  the  concept  of  "mate"  from 
the  observation  of  birds  and  animals  and  was  striving  for  the  con- 
cept of  "mother,"  That  would  hardly  explain,  however,  his  idea 
of  a  "bride." 

Scene  III. 

In  the  last  scene  of  Siegfried  the  light  myth  comes  into 
prominence  and  we  think  of  Siegfried  as  bringing  the  joyousness 
of  the  sunlight.  The  wakening  of  Briinnhilde  is  very  pretty,  tho 
the  scene  grows  later  into  one  of  sensual  passion.  The  young  hero 
seems  at  first,  however,  to  have  forgotten  the  promise  of  a  bride 
and,  because  of  the  armor,  thinks  he  has  found  a  man.  ^ 

'His  recognition  of  the  fact  that  she  is  a  woman  may  not  be  within  the 
limit  of  his  experience  but  may  be  thought  of  as  having  some  connection  with 
his  longing  for  his  mother  and  his  perception  that  this  creature,  while  a  hu- 
man being,  is  different  from  those  he  has  seen  before 

(167) 


44 

When  he  has  awakened  the  maid,  too,  he  believes  her  at  first 
to  be  his  mother  for  whom  he  has  had  such  hinging — a  very 
charming  touch,  as  also  the  fact  that  he  now  learns  fear.  Such 
reflection  as  in  the  last  thought  would  be  out  of  keeping  with  his 
naivete  were  it  not  for  the  fact  that  this  idea  of  his  learning  fear 
has  been  so  impressed  upon  him. 

Briinnhilde's  greeting  of  Siegfried  as  the  light  is  pretty,  but 
her  dwelling  on  it  brings  the  mythical  interpretation  rather  too 
much  into  the  foreground.  It  is,  however,  in  accord  with  her  own 
mythical  character  and  her  joy  over  her  renewed  life. 

Some  consideration  of  Briinnhilde's  speeches  may  be  profit- 
able:   "noch  eh'  du  geboren/    barg  dich  mein  Schild:/    so  lang* 
lieb'  ich  dich,  Siegfried !"/    and  again :    "Dich  liebt'  ich  immer :/ 
denn  mir  allein/    erdiiukte  Wotan's  Gedanke./    Der  Gedanke,  den 
nie/  ich  nennen  durf te ;  ......   weil  ich  nicht  ihn  dachte/     und 

nur  empfand./  Denn  der  Gedanke — /  dtirftest  du's  losen — / 
mir  war  er  nur  Liebe  zu  dir."/  To  think  of  Briinnhilde,  from  the 
motive  of  loving  pity  and  a  knowledge  of  Siegfried's  worth,  as  pro- 
tecting the  unborn  hero  is  a  beautiful  thought,  but  to  speak  now  of 
this  love  as  that  to  a  future  bridegroom  does  not  seem  agreeable  or 
plausible.  Rather  it  lowers  the  character  of  Briinnhilde.  If  we 
think  of  her  pity  tlien  as  preparatory  to  her  new  feeling  now,  con- 
necting it  with  her  hope  expressed  to  Wotan,  it  seems  natural 
enough  and  pleasing.  It  does  not  seem  to  me,  however,  that  Wag- 
ner was  just  happy  in  his  expression  here,  in  referring  us  back 
rather  to  the  scene  with  Siegmund  where  we  were  led  to  think, 
as  also  in  her  confession  to  Wotan,  that  lier  feeling  of  love  was  for 
Siegmund,  tho  for  the  Walsungen  race  in  general. 

The  second  speech  does  not  seem  entirely  compreliensible, 
either.  In  the  first  place  it  would  seem  that  Wotan's  thouglit  be- 
came clear  to  lier  before  it  was  clear  to  Wotan  himself  (cf.  Walk- 
uere  III.)  as  far  as  the  means  to  his  purpose  was  concerned.  Only 
in  so  far  ns  this  motive  for  her  protection  and  strife  referred  to  the 
Walsungen  race  in  general,  thus  including  Siegfried,  to  be  sure, 

(168) 


45 

can  her  attitude  seem  plausible.  That  she  should  at  that  time, 
semi-divine  tho  she  was,  have  felt  love  for  him  as  now  seems  pre- 
posterous and  incomprehensible. 

That  Brtinnhilde  should  resist  Siegfried's  love  as  completing 
her  isolation  from  and  punishment  by  the  god  seems  convincing 
and  awakens  our  sympathy. — It  reminds  one  of  the  same  situation 
in  Hebbel,  but  her  struggle  here  while  more  pleasing  is  less  tragic. 
■ — Knowing,  however,  that  it  is  her  fate  to  yield,  she  does  so  gradu- 
ally but  entirely,  attracted  by  the  vehemence  and  beauty  in  Sieg- 
fried's personality.  Her  new  feeling  then  becomes  so  intense  that 
it  prepares  us  here  for  her  attitude  in  the  scene  with  Waltraute  in 
Gdtterddmmerung.  For  her  wider  world  view  vanishes:  "Trau- 
riges  Dunkel/  triibt  mir  den  Blick,"  etc.  and  her  interest  be- 
comes limited  and  so  centered  in  Siegfried  that  she  becomes  indif- 
ferent to  the  weal  of  the  gods,  as  to  her  own  fate :  "Lachend  musz 
ich  dich  lieben;/  lachend  will  ich  erblinden;/  lachend  lass'  uns 
verderben"  etc.  The  motivation  here  is  by  no  means  clear.  One 
would  be  inclined  to  take  the  passage  simply  to  mean  that  the 
heavens  might  fall  for  all  she  cared,  for  she  was  happy  in  her  love. 
It  seems,  however,  to  imply  that  the  fall  of  the  gods  is  connected 
with  her  yielding  to  love,  an  interpretation  that  seems  uuAvarrant- 
ed  as  far  as  any  motivation  is  concerned.  (Or  does  she  refer  to 
the  breaking  of  the  sword?)  There  is  no  reason  to  suppose  that 
her  surrender  of  the  ring  would  have  been  more  effective  before  the 
death  of  Siegfried  than  it  proved  later.  Or  are  we  to  think  that 
the  prevention  of  Siegfried's  death  by  her  surrender  of  the  ring 
would  have  made  possible  a  new  and  better  era?  There  is  no  de- 
velopment that  shows  that  to  be  the  case — there  is  certainly  again 
a  lack  of  clearness  in  motivation. 


(169) 


46 


GOETTERDAEMMERUNG 

Vorspiel.     Scene  I. 

Wagner  lias  been  criticised  for  the  introduction  of  the  Norn 
scene,  a  scene  based  in  part  npon  the  Edda.  The  style  is  certain- 
ly' undramatic  from  the  modern  point  of  view;  for  the  Norns  do 
not  further  the  action,  nor  do  they,  indeed,  make  it  much  clearer. 
Tho  more  mystic  than  the  Greek  chorus,  and  not  philosophic, 
they  })erform  in  a  way  the  function  of  the  chorus.  They  give  us 
the  impression  of  the  absolute  certainty'  of  Wotan's  fall,  relating 
again  past  events  (some  of  them  only  hinted  before)  and  suggest- 
ing those  to  come.  The  scene  is,  however,  more  strictly  a  recount- 
ing of  the  events  of  the  drama  than  is  true  of  the  Greek  chorus 
(which  rather  comments  upon  than  recounts  the  events  of  the 
drama)  and  is  more  in  the  epic  manner. 

We  have  another  mention  of  Wotan's  sacrifice  of  an  eye  at 
the  well  of  wisdom  ^  and  the  Norn  tells  of  the  making  of  the  spear 
from  the  Welt-Esche,  a  tree  supposed  to  sustain  the  world.  ^  Wag- 
ner, then,  has  changed  the  myth  by  having  the  spear  made  from 
the  ash  and  connecting  with  this  incident  the  downfall  (►f  the 
world. — In  the  Edda,  it  is  true,  some  connection  is  suggested  be- 
tween the  fall  of  the  tree  and  Nibelheim:  "die  dritte  ( Wurzel) 
steht  uber  Niflheim,  und  diese  Wurzel  ist  Hwergelmir  und  Nid- 
hoggr  nagt  von  unteu  auf  an  ihr."-'  In  Wagner,  however,  this 
connection  is  not  brought  out,  tho  the  tree  falls  thru  Wotan.  and 
Wotan's  fall  is  supposed  to  be  precipitated  by  the  robbery  of  Al- 
berich,  and  suggestion  is  made  of  Alberich's  previous  distrust.^ 
In  Rheingold  Wotan's  guilt  began  earlier  than  his  robbery  of  the 
dwarf;  that  is,  with  the  pawning  of  Freia.  Now  Wagner 
breaks  the  unity    of    action    further    by    connecting    his    guilt, 

'cf  above,  pp.  41-42. 

'cf.    Simrock's    translation    of    the    Edda,    p.    258.      There    we    are    told: 
"n  langer  Zeiten  Lauf  \     zehrte  die  W'unde  den  Wald;"  etc. 
'Simrock's  translation,  p.   258. 
*RheingoM,  Sc.  3. 

(170) 


47 

or  at  least  the  ultimate  cause  of  his  fall,  with  the  attainment  of 
his  power — we  were  told  before  that  his  doom  was  due  to  the 
breaking  of  contract,  tho  it  really  went  back  of  that  to  the  sacri- 
fice of  the  Goddess  of  Love  for  power.  The  thought  of  the  two  in- 
cidents is  similar  but  has,  nevertheless,  this  difference :  that  the 
later  incident  represents  an  unfair  acquision  of  power  while 
nothing  of  the  sort  is  implied  in  the  earlier  (unless  we  think  of 
wantonness  in  his  doing  violence  to  the  ash.  Then  the  question 
suggests  itself,  "What  kind  of  gods  were  these  before  without  any 
power?  Does  an  age  of  innocence  imply  that  there  was  no  need 
of  guidance?"  On  the  contrary  the  runes  on  the  spear  are  spoken 
of  as  "Treu  berath'ner/  Vertrage  Runen."  The  making  of  the 
spear,  then,  which  insured  Wotan's  power,  made  his  downfall  ine- 
vitable and  its  cause  previous  to  any  specified  guilt.  (We  have 
no  reason  to  believe  that  the  wound  would  not  have  killed  the 
tree  even  if  he  had  been  true  to  contract.) 

The  withering  of  the  ash  makes  questionable  the  value  of  all 
the  struggle  of  the  dramas ;  for,  since  it  is  the  "all-nourishing,"  its 
fall  implies  not  only  that  of  the  gods  but  of  the  whole  world,  tho 
we  do  not  know  how  long  a  time  might  elapse  before  that  event. 
Such  is  the  case  in  the  Edda,  altho  the  new  world  is  to  arise  and 
Baldur  to  return.  In  the  case  of  the  end  of  the  world  ( and  it  is 
suggested  in  Brtinnhilde's  speech,  "Enden  sah  ich  die  Welt,") 
Brtinnhilde's  sacrifice  and  the  return  of  the  ring  to  the  Rhine 
would  seem  to  be  rendered  useless.  If,  however,  we  understand 
the  destruction  of  only  the  gods,  as  implied  in  the  earlier  speech : 
"Verging  wie  Hauch/  der  Gotter  Geschlecht,/  lass'  ohne  Wal- 
ter/ die  Welt  ich  zurtick,"/  then  the  return  of  the  gold  would 
have  a  value  as  far  as  Wotan's  conscience  is  concerned  in  stopping 
the  progress  of  the  wrong  tho  it  cannot  repair  all  the  wrong  that 
was  done.  ^  The  world  has  a  more  hopeful  outlook,  perhaps,  with 
the  death  of  each  one — except  Alberich — who  has  craved  the  gold.^ 


'cf.  above  p.  21. 
=cf.  below  p.  67. 


(171) 


48 

The  comprehension,  then,  of  Wotau's  fall  depends  upon  the 
epic  prolog,  rather  than  upon  the  development  of  the  action  of 
the  drama — an  account  of  an  incident  before  the  drama  began. 
We  may  look  upon  his  connection  with  Loge  and  subsequent  pre- 
dicaments as  only  a  means,  iKM-lmps,  of  liastening  the  catastrophe, 
his  own  will  then  hastening  it  still  more  hy  the  cutting  down  of  the 
ash  and  the  preparation  of  the  pyre.  (The  time  of  Wotan's  con- 
nection with  Loge  is  subsequent  to  the  making  of  the  spear.) 

The  connection  between  the  curse  and  the  end  of  the  world : 
"Aus  Neid  und  Noth/  ragt  mir  des  Nibelungen  Ring:'' etc./  has 
been  discussed  above  (pp.  14,  17,  46).  Kostlin  (pp.  55/6  justly 
objects  that  the  fall  of  the  gods  should  not  depend  upon  a  little 
ring;  that  is,  that  the  ring  story  should  be  apart  of  that  of  the  fall 
of  the  gods  instead  of  the  reverse  order  of  affairs.  He  questions 
the  sufficiency  of  the  guilt  of  the  gods,  having  in  mind  the  robbery 
of  the  dwarf,  to  which  he  adds  Wotan's  subsequent  course;  e.g. 
the  manipulation  of  Siegmund  and  Sieglinde  to  afford  sufficient 
justification  for  the  gods'  doom.  In  part  I  agree  with  him  but 
think  he  has  failed  to  notice  the  previous  guilt  in  the  forfeiture 
of  the  Goddess  of  Love  and  Youth.  With  Golther  (p.  34)  I  should 
grant  to  the  story  a  certain  unity  of  thought — with  lapses  ' — in 
that  Wotau's  career  and  downfall  are  in  harmony  with  his  selfish 
desire  for  power  and  disregard  of  the  spirit  of  love.  I  should  not, 
as  Kostlin,  characterize  it  merely  as  lack  of  proportion  in  the 
two  stories  but  rather  an  incongruity  with  facts,  since  Wotan's 
fall  does  not  really  depend  upon  the  curse.  The  emphasis  is  placed 
there,  however,  by  the  reiterated  statement  of  such  a  fact  and,  as 
pointed  out  (p.  22)  the  reader  does  receive  such  an  impression. 

Scene  II. 

The  epic  element  is  again  predominant  when  Briinnhilde 
sends  Siegfried  out  merely  to  seek  new  deeds.  Some  excuse  is 
found  perhaps  in  the  fact  that  this  is  a  prolog  rather  than  a  part 

•cf.  p.  17. 

(172) 


49 

of  the  drama  proper,  but  nevertheless,  it  is  to  be  presented  on  the 
stage  in  close  connection  with  the  rest.  We  find  here  essentially 
a  beginning  rather  than  a  motivation  of  events. 

Another  step  in  the  ring  tragedy  is  made,  however,  in  Sieg- 
fried's presentation  to  Brtinnhilde  of  the  fateful  ring.  There  is 
also  a  hinted  motivation  for  Siegfried's  later  misfortunes  in  his 
inability  to  benefit  by  her  advice :  "nicht  ziirne,  wenn  dein  Lehren/ 
mich  unbelehret  liesz !"/  This  was  characteristic  of  him  in  Sieg- 
fried in  his  attitude  toward  learning  fear,  tho  there  his  aversion  to 
Mime  must  have  aided  his  resistance,  conscious  or  unconscious, 
to  the  feeling.  Here,  if  we  may  judge  by  the  older  accounts  as  re- 
gards the  amount  Brtinnhilde  tried  to  impart,  it  is  no  wonder  that 
Siegfried  felt  burdened.  Wagner  showed  good  judgment  in  omit- 
ting the  runes,  as  the  incident  is  essentially  undramatic  and  un- 
appealing. 

Act  I,  Scene  I. 

The  motives  for  the  following  action  lie  in  the  characters  of 
Gunther  and  Hagen — in  Gunther's  vanity  or  desire  for  fame, 
which  Hagen  is  not  slow  to  make  use  of  and  has  no  doubt  been  in 
the  habit  of  cultivating  :  ^'deinem  Kath  nur  red'  ich  Lob,/  frag 
ich  dich  nach  meinem  Ruhm."/  Hagen's  purpose  is,  of  course,  re- 
vealed later.  His  knowledge  of  the  outside  world  is  traditional 
tho  here  we  may  suppose  him  to  have  obtained  it  from  his  father. 

The  plan  to  win  Siegfried,  and  thru  him  Brtinnhilde,  is, 
naturally,  pure  intrigue  and  redounds  little  to  the  credit  of  Gu- 
trune,  as  w^ll  as  of  Gunther  and  Hagen. 

The  arrival  of  Siegfried  is  motivated  to  a  certain  extent  in 
his  desire  to  perform  deeds  and  his  apparent  knowledge  of  Gun- 
ther's  strength.  To  Hagen's  question  as  to  where  he  is  going, 
he  replies:  "Zu  Gibich's  starkem  Sohne."/  Hebbel  because  of 
his  different  plan  is  able  to  offer  a  more  definite  motivation  in 
Siegfried's  knowledge  of  Kriemhild's  beauty  and  his  desire  to 
win  her. 

(173) 


50 

Scene  II. 

The  second  scene  brings  the  entrance  of  Siegfried,  demanding 
combat  or  friendship.  The  former  request  seems  more  in  keeping 
with  his  character  as  we  have  seen  it,  tho  he  is  supposed  to  be  a 
peaceful,  or  at  any  rate  good-natured,  hero,  and  in  the  preceding 
drama  was  desirous  of  friendship.  Their  exchange  of  oaths 
seems,  nevertlieless,  precipitate,  th(^  we  understand  Gunther's 
motive  and  are  familiar  with  Siegfried's  impetuosity:  "Des 
Schatzes  vergasz  ich  fast :/  so  schatz'  ich  sein  musz'  ges  Gut !' '/ 
may  illustrate  his  impetuosity,  tho  the  second  line  seems  to  me 
rather  forced.  The  fact  of  his  passing  such  a  judgment  hardly 
implies  naivete,  tho  it  shows  his  independence  and  his  freedom 
from  the  influence  of  the  common  opinion.  Siegfried's  knowledge 
of  the  form  of  the  oath,  etc.  implies  some  lapse  of  time  and  some 
experience  since  his  parting  from  Brtinnhilde,  too. 

The  use  of  the  potion  here,  to  me,  as  to  many  critics,  ^ 
seems  an  artificial  and  inconsistent  motivation,  and  is  so  from 
a  psychological  standpoint,  since  the  result  is  in  immediate 
and  direct  contrast  to  the  feeling  Siegfried  has  just  expressed 
and  to  his  pledge  of  fidelity  to  Brtinnhilde.  Wagner  introduced 
purely  magic  interference  without  any  consideration  of  harmony 
with  character,  thinking  by  that  means  to  save  the  nobility  of 
Siegfried's  character,  but  he  does  not  succeed  in  making  the 
scene  or  Siegfried's  character  in  this  respect  convincing.  The 
effect  of  the  potion  is,  of  course,  not  in  harmony  with  our  con- 
ception of  his  character,  nor  does  time  elapse  to  account  for 
any  change.  Tlie  incongruity  is,  moreover,  made  more  pro- 
nounced by  the  later  potion.  Or  are  we  to  think  of  Siegfried  as 
a  conceited  fickle  fellow  who  can  at  any  time  change  his  mind  and 
become  faitliless  without  mental  ])ain  or  struggle?  Wagner,  of 
course,  does  not  intend  us  to  think  so.  Or  may  we  say  that  in 
his  inexperience  or  naivete  he  unconsciously  follows  the  impulse 
of  the  moment,  unthinking  as  far  as     wrong     to  others  is  con- 

'cf.  Drews  (p.  100). 

(174) 


51 

cerned?  The  return  of  his  feeling  thru  the  .second  potion  makes 
this,  too,  improbable.  Wagner  does  not  trouble  himself  to  make 
the  action  grow  out  of  the  characters  but  contents  himself  witli 
miracles. 

Menick  (p.  268)  supports  Moritz  Wirth^  in  speaking  of  Sieg- 
fried's death  as  due  to  his  failure  to  recall  Brtinnhilde's  rune  for 
the  protection  against  magic.  All  that  is  a  sufficient  explanation 
for  a  fairy  story  of  epic  style  but  does  not  seem  to  me  a  convinc- 
ing motivation  for  a  drama.  As  far  as  this  circumstance  is  con- 
cerned at  least,  Siegfried's  death  is  due  to  his  misfortune  rather 
than  his  fault,  and  is  sad  but  not  tragic. — Brtinnhilde  says  in 
Siegfrieds  Tod:  "was  du  mir  nahmst,  niitzest  du  nicht,/ 
deinem  muthigen  Trotz  vertrautest  du  nur."/  in  the  final  ren- 
dering we  have  no  attitude  of  disrespect  for  her  knowledge,  but 
it  would  be  more  natural  for  Siegfried  to  depend  upon  his 
strength  and  courage,  ratlier  than  to  try  to  learn  a  long  list  of 
rules  for  his  protection.  In  mythology  and  in  Fouque  we  find  rules 
against  magic  also,  advice  concerning  fidelity  to  friends  and  oaths 
and  association  with  women,  etc.  ad  infinitum.  The  rune  against 
magic  is,  of  course,  the  one  needed  as  all  his  misconduct  is  de- 
pendent upon  that  rather  ihan  upon  himself, — and  that  motiva- 
tion we  have  just  discussed. 

His  desire  to  win  Gutrune  at  once,  as  soon  as  he  is  conscious 
of  his  new  feeling,  is  in  accord  with  his  impetuosity,  but  the  form 
that  it  takes — exactly  in  keeping  with  Gunther's  wishes — would 
seem  deliberate  on  the  part  of  the  author,  were  it  not  for  the 
fact  that  we  may  regard  Siegfried  as  so  filled  with  this  desire 
himself  that  it  is  the  most  natural  question :  "Hast  du,  Gunther, 
ein  Weib?"/  The  question,  of  course,  leads  at  once  to  Gunther's 
disclosure  of  his  desire  and  Siegfried's  offer  of  assistance. 

Kostlin  (p.  58)  justifies  Siegfried's  death  on  the  plea, 
"Einmal  ist  Siefried  von  Scluild  nicht  frei,  vertibte  Gewalt- 
that  und  List  gegen  Brtinnhilde,  als  er  sie  durch  den  Tarnhelm 

^Musicalisches  Wochenblatt  1885,  Nr.  17-23. 

(175) 


52 

fur  Gunther  zii  gewinnen  iinternalim,"  as  also  from  the  fact  that 
it  is  common  in  life  that  people  die  as  victims  of  deceit.  The 
latter  statement  is  true  enough  (and  sad  tho  not  tragic)  but  the 
former  needs  a  little  further  consideration.  It  is  true  that  he 
did  exercise  violence  and  the  affair  is  not  in  accordance  with 
modern  ideas.  It  is  true  that  in  both  Wagner  and  Hebbel  Sieg- 
fried in  this  affair  had  blunt  sensibilities  as  far  as  Brtinnhilde 
was  concerned,  but  it  is  also  true  that  in  both  cases  the  youth 
had  no  feeling  of  guilt  in  tlie  matter  (in  AVagner  we  may  sup- 
pose him  in  his  simplicity  to  have  no  criterion  of  right  and  wrong 
in  the  matter,)  and  his  motive  was  commendable — that  of  service 
to  one  to  whom  he  had  made  the  vow  of  friendship,  at  a  period, 
too,  when  we  may  suppose  such  service  from  friend  to  friend  to 
have  occupied  a  more  important  part  in  life  than  now.  In  both 
the  hero  has  held  an  attitude  of  honor  toward  her  as  far  as  his 
own  consciousness  is  concerned — in  Hebbel  from  tlie  fact  that  he 
does  not  greet  where  he  cannot  woo  and  in  Wagner  in  liis  use  of 
his  sword  to  preserve  his  faith  to  Gunther.  In  Hebbel  Siegfried 
has  more  contempt  for  Briinnhilde's  personality  tho  he  does  not 
appeal  to  this  as  a  reason  for  his  willingness  to  perform  the  deed. 
The  deed,  the  employment  of  strength,  is  in  both  cases  a  matter 
of  course.  There  is,  however,  a  decided  difference  in  the  motiva- 
tion in  the  two  poets.  In  Wagner  this  episode  is  the  pretext  for 
Hagen's  act  and  that  in  part  is  true  in  Hebbel — to  a  certain  ex- 
tent he  is  a  victim  in  botli  cmscs.  In  the  latter,  however,  his  tirst 
act  which  was  voluntary — not  motivated  by  magic — leads  inevit- 
ably to  his  second.  There  lie  does  have  a  certain  feeling  of  guilt, 
some  consideration  for  Brtinnhilde  as  well  as  for  Kriemhilde,  but 
now  is  forced  by  a  tragic  necessity  to  perform  in  liis  second  con- 
test a  deed  that  leads  to  his  own  destruction — a  tool  again  per- 
haps but  not  without  his  own  mental  struggle. 

The  fact  that  Hagen  refrains  from  the  oath  leaves  him  free 
to  perform  his  wicked  docd  from  motives  ostensibly  good — to  the 


(176) 


53 

mind  of  Gunther    and     Briinnliilde — without     breaking  a  faith 
sacred  to  the  Germanic  mind. 

At  the  close  of  the  scene  we  find  Gutrun^  rejoicing  in  the 
prospect  of  winning  Siegfried,  unashamed  of  the  means,  and  Ha- 
gen  glorying  in  the  success  of  his  schemes  and  in  the  hope  of  the 
ring  and  of  consequent  power. 

Scene  III. 

Waltraute's  account  t)  Rriiunhilde  presents  once  more  the 
situation  of  Wotan  (his  career  is  presented  in  the  epic  manner 
thruout  this  drama,  tho  here  a  natural  opportunity  is  offered  for 
the  account).  Wotan  is  solemnly  awaiting,  or  even  hastening, 
the  end,  smiling  only  once — presumably  when  Siegfried  wakened 
Briinnhilde — indifferent  to  all  supplication,  filling  all  with  fear. 
Again,  however,  a  glimmer  of  hope  comes  to  him  as  he  whispers 
to  Waltraute :  "des  tiefen  Eheines  Tochteru/  giibe  den  Ring  sie 
zurlick,/  von  des  Finches  Last/  erlost  war',  Gott  und  Welt."/ 
What  then  does  Wotan  mean?  Is  he  still  trying  to  escape  his 
fate,  or  does  he  mean  that  a  peaceful  end  would  then  be  possible? 
Concerning  the  effectiveness  of  release  from  the  curse,  comment 
has  been  made  above^. 

The  demand  made  upon  Briinnhilde  is  to  her,  however,  im- 
possible of  fulfillment.  She  cannot  see  the  value  or  justice  of 
it.  She  seems  no  longer  to  have  comprehension  of  the  impending 
fall  of  the  gods.  In  fright  she  asks:  "Was  ist's  denn  mit  den 
ewigen  Gottern?"/  Whatever  the  situation,  however,  she  cannot 
rise  to  the  sacrifice  of  her  love  and  selfishly  refuses  to  consider 
others,  to  perform  the  mission  assigned  her — not  out  of  greed  for 
gold,  nor  for  any  power  it  might  bring,  but  for  the  personal  hap- 
piness, including  nevertheless,  a  feeling  of  loyalty  to  Siegfried. 
In  being  true  to  her  love,  then,  she  sins  against  the  broader  con- 
ception of  love,^  and  we  find  the  individual  in  clash  with  the  gen- 
eral weal.     It  is  similar  to  the  case  of  Johanna  where  a  laudable 

^cf.   p.  45  and  pp.   20-21. 

Vf.  also  Drews  (p.  84,  Anm.).  i. 

(177) 


54 

personal  feeling  is  regarded  as  wrong  in  conflict  with  a  mission 
— with  this  difference:  that  liriinnliilde  has  not  accepted  the  mis- 
sion, tho  she  is  in  a  measure  ccmscious  of  it.  She  defends  her 
positioa  by  ])la(ing  the  blame  on  others  (and  it  belongs  there), 
regarding  the  demand  as  the  taking  away  of  something  rightfully 
belonging  to  her. 

What  she  does  not  perform  of  her  own  free  will,  however, 
she  performs  later  from  force  of  circumstances,  or  rather  she 
gives  up  ring  and  life  when  they  no  longer  have  any  charm  for 
her.  But  is  that  any  credit  to  her,  is  that  self-sacrificing  or  re- 
deeming love?  has  been  asked^ 

The  latter  part  of  the  scene  presents  the  carrying  out  of  Sieg- 
fried's promise  to  Gunther  in  the  conquest  of  Briinnliildo,  and 
the  transfer  of  the  ring  to  Siegfried  again.  Are  Ave  to  regard 
this  as  the  fulfilment  of  the  curse  upon  Briinnhilde?  True,  she 
has  desired  the  ring,  but  plan  was  made  for  her  comiuest  before 
her  refusal  to  give  it  up — tlio  not  before  slie  has  desired  it.  The 
surrender  of  the  ring  would  probably  not  have  prevented  the 
conquest  tho  it  might  have  prevented  the  catastrophe  to  the  hu- 
man characters.  The  scheme  was  concocted  before  Hagen  knew 
that  Briinnliilde  had  the  ring  but  was,  of  course,  a  pretext  for 
Siegfried's  death  tliru  which  he  hoped  to  secure  the  ring.  Slie 
would,  then,  probably  have  been  overcome  without  ever  having 
had  the  ring.  That  she  did  have  it,  however,  and  thereby  learned 
from  Waltraute  Wotan's  need  forms  motivation  for  her  final  re- 
turn of  the  ring  to  the  Rhine  maids. 

Bninnhilde's  view  of  the  matter :  "Wotan,  ergrimmter,/ 
grausamer  Gott !/  Weh'!  Nun  erseh'  iclv/  der  Strafe  Sinn:/ 
zu  Holin  und  Jammer/  jag'st  du  mich  hini"/  would  not  be 
consistent  with  Wotan's  attitude  of  inactivity. 

'Wagner  in  his  letter  to  Roeckel,  Jan.  25,  1854,  in  speaking  of  Briinnhilde's 
loyalty  to  her  love  does  not  think  of  it  as  selfish  (consciously  or  unconsciously) 
In  any  degree,  but  this  is  the  love  thru  which,  together  with  Siegfried,  she  be- 
comes the  redeemer  of  the  world!  His  own  interpretation  is  a  lower  ideal  of 
love,  and  his  ideal  here  seems  in  conflict  with  his  gospel  of  renunciation  (in- 
serted, of  course,  later). 

(178) 


55 

Siegfried  gives  evidence  of  his  intended  good  faith  in  his 
speech:  "Nun,  Nothung,  zeuge  du,/  das  ich  in  Ztichten  warb, 
etc."/ 

The  use  of  the  magic  Tarnhelm  does  not  make  the  deed  seem 
improbable,  for  we  are  even  told  that  it  concealed  most  of  the 
hero's  face,  or  rather  that  the  hero  feared  it  had  not  entirely  con- 
cealed his  face. 

The  fact  that  the  fire  still  surrounded  the  rock  has  been  ob- 
jected to  as  untrue  to  mythology.  The  same  case  is  found,  how- 
ever, in  the  Volsungasaga  and  may  be  thought  of  as  symbolical 
of  the  protection  of  Briinnhilde's  maidenhood — as  well  as  a  part  of 
the  nature  myth. 

Act  IT.  Scene  L 

In  the  first  scene  of  the  second  act  the  conversation  between 
Alberich  and  Hagen  makes  clear  Hagen's  superior  knowledge,  his 
true  feeling  toward  the  Gibichungen  and  desire  for  the  ring. 
Wagner  has  chosen  to  represent  Hagen  as  in  sleep,  from  the  old 
superstition  that  the  elf  comes  to  one  asleep  causing  nightmare^ 
Alberich  relates  Wotan's  absurd  defeat  by  a  mortal  and  conse- 
quent helplessness.  He  relates,  too,  Siegfried's  conquests  and 
says:  "jede  Gewalt/  hat  er  gewonnen;/  Walhall  und  Nibel- 
heim/  neigen  sich  ihm — "/  a  fact  that  is  true  to  this  extent, 
that  he  has  a  possession  they  are  seeking. 

Alberich's  assertion:  "an  dem  furchtlosen  Helden/  erlahmt 
selbst  mein  Fluch:/  denn  nicht  weisz  er  des  Kinges  Werth," 
etc./  seems  consistent  with  the  facts  of  the  case  as  they  should 
be  but  not  as  they  are  represented  in  Siegfried's  conversation 
with  the  Bhine  maids.  Siegfried  relates  there  the  prophecy  con- 
cerning the  ring,  but  still  does  not  value  it  and  should  remain 
free  from  the  curse.  As  regards  the  result  of  his  knowledge  of 
the  baneful  effect  of  the  ring  discussion  will  be  offered  later. 

We  receive  further  hint  as  to  Hagen's  plan  "Zu  seinem 
Verderben/    dient  er  mir  schon,"/  as  also  concerning  Alberich's 

'ct.  Meinck,  pp.  311-312. 

(179; 


56 

machinations.  He  has  managed  to  have  in  the  midst  of  the  en- 
emy in  the  j^uise  of  a  friend  an  instrument,  a  son  of  brave  lineage 
thru  his  mother  and  shrewdness  thru  liis  father — a  son  into 
whom  he  has  instilled  a  desire  to  accomplish  his  (Alberich's) 
purpose,  so  that  Hagen  in  turn  uses  tliose  about  him  to  come 
into  contact,  thru  them,  with  Siegfried.  We  may  imagine  that 
he  would  have  accomplished  this,  even  if  the  hero  had  not  of  his 
own  accord  arrived  on  the  scene.  If,  then,  we  regard  the  sug- 
gestion that  Alberich  should  not  remain  helpless  if  he  could  have 
a  son  as  a  prophecy  of  events,  it  may  be  accepted.  To  accept, 
however,  the  mere  fact  of  the  dwarf's  having  a  son  as  a  proper 
motivation  would  still  seem  forced.  In  addition  was  needed  the 
right  environment  to  make  that  fact  of  value. 

Scene  II. 

The  second  scene  is  for  the  most  part  episodical,  tho  it  gives 
the  author  a  chance  to  relate  naturally  the  manner  of  transfer 
of  Brtinnhilde  from  Siegfried  to  Gunther.  Gutrunc  has  same 
natural  scruples  about  Siegfried's  part  in  the  conquest,  hut  her 
suspicions  are  allayed  by  his  explanations  and,  as  in  the  other 
accounts,  her  admiration  for  his  prowess  is  enhanced. 

Preparations  are  ordered  for  the  reception  of  the  bridal  pair, 
Gutrune's  attitude  suggesting  that  of  Hebbel's  Kriemhild.  Gu- 
trune  says :  "Laszt  sie  uns  hold  empfah'n,/  dasz  Ueiter  und  gem 
sie  weile!"/  In  Hebbel  we  have  a  more  vivid  impression  in  a 
charming  scene  representing  the  welcome. 

Scene  III. 
Hagen's  summons  of  Gunther's  men  provides  witnesses  for 
the  following  scene  and  increases  the  necessity  for  revenge  and 
the  restoration  of  Gunther's  honor.  Nevertheless  the  manner  of  the 
summons  and  the  effect  upon  the  men  seem  incongruous  in  view 
of  the  occasion,  as  does  also  liis  characterizaticui  of  Briinniiilde 
as  "freisliches  Weib"  (unless  recalling  her  career  as  Valk^ria). 
His  manner,  however,  has  consistency  with   his  fnithless  char- 

(180) 


57 

acter.  His  seeming  joke  changes  to  quite  the  opposite  in  the  fol- 
lowing scene.  Already  he  suggests  the  expected  turn  of  affairs: 
"Hold  seid  der  Herrin,/  helfet  ihr  treu :/  traf  sie  ein  Leid,/  rasch 
seid  zur  Rache."/  His  revelation  of  Siegfried's  having  lent  as- 
sistance makes  his  only  plea  that  of  disloyalty  and  places  Sieg- 
fried entirely  in  the  position  of  a  wronged  man  (cf.  pp.  51-52), 

Scene  IV. 

The  catastrophe  is  greatly  hastened  by  Briinnhilde's  imme- 
diate discovery  of  the  ring  on  Siegfried's  finger  and  her  conse- 
quent accusation.  That  he  had  not  removed  the  ring  from  sight  is 
not  surprising,  in  view  of  the  rapid  course  of  events  and  his  ab- 
sorbing interest  in  his  own  love— tho  this  absorption  is  merely 
suggested  in  his  swift  return  and  immedate  inquiry  for  Gu- 
trune.  Why  Siegfried  is  not  puzzled  at  receiving  his  own  ring 
from  Briinnhilde  becomes  a  query.  He  should  be  conscious  of 
two  facts:  that  he  has  a  ring  which  he  took  from  her  and  that 
the  ring  he  has  is  one  which  he  won  with  the  Tarnhelm.  Why 
he  never  expresses  any  consciousness  of  the  mystery  is  surprising. 
There  is,  of  course,  little  time  given  for  reflection  and  he  might 
naturally  refrain  from  expression  of  surprise  in  Briinnhilde's 
presence,  but  he  seems  later  on,  too,  to  take  the  ring  as  a  m.atter 
of  course.  The  potion  does  not  seem  quite  to  settle  the  difficulty 
since  it  was  supposed  to  make  him  forget  merely  his  earlier  rela- 
tion with  Briinnhilde. 

If  we  accept,  however,  a  second  lapse  of  memory  as  well  as 
a  first,  we  find  a  highly  dramatic  scene  filled  with  contrasts — 
or  intended  contradictions.  The  courses  of  tAvo  people  are  made 
to  cross  each  other  and  bring  about  the  annihilation  of  both — 
both  characters  in  the  right  as  in  Hebbel  but  with  this  difference, 
that  here  the  conflict  does  not  grow  out  of  their  characters — is 
not  inevitable,  but  is  arranged  by  the  author  as  deus  ex  machina. 
It  is  true  that  in  life  a  wicked  intriguer  may  force  each  of  two 
innocent  people  thru  mutual  misunderstanding  to  destroy  the  hap- 
piness of  the  other,  but  we  then  expect  mental  suffering  on  the 

(181) 


58 

j»art  of  l)(»tli.     The  conflict  cannot  but  soom  liere  unnatural  and 
forced  from  its  very  superabundance  of  contradictions. 

liriinnliilde  has  ample  evidence  of  Siegfried's  guilt  in  her  re- 
membrance of  their  former  relation  and  in  (Junther's  confusion 
when  she  asks:  "Wo  biirgest  du  den  King,/  den  du  von  mir 
erbeutest,/"  Siegfried,  however,  conscious  of  his  sincere  intent  ad- 
mits his  part  in  the  contest,  pleading  innoc^ence,  however,  of  per- 
fidy. Hagen's  mention  of  Siegfried's  part  in  the  contest  above  was 
not  in  any  way  to  Siegfried's  discredit — a  variation  fr  in  Tlaupacli, 
with  whom  Hel)bel  in  a  measure  agrees,  wliere  the  wliole  matter 
comes  as  a  vivid  shock  to  the  public  within  the  drama.  In  each 
case  the  charge  hinges  upon  his  loyalty  to  Brunnhilde  and  toward 
Gunther.  Here  he  has  only  an  unconscious  guilt,  in  Hebbid  a 
guilt  forced  u])on  him  by  circumstances  but  one  that  he  cannot 
entirely  shake  off,  and  in  Kaupach  a  guilt  that  we  will  all  admit 
from  his  low  ideal  of  morality,  a  guilt  that  does  not,  however, 
make  the  story  more  palatable. 

Here  Siegfried  exclaims:  "Nothung,  mein  werthes 
Schwert,/  wahrte  der  Treue  Eid ;/  mich  trennte  seine  Schjirfe/ 
von  diesem  traurigen  Weib."/  while  Brunnhilde,  having  in  mind 
his  earlier  visit,  makes  reply:  "Wohl  kenu'  ich  auch  die 
Scheide./  darin  so  wonnig  ruht'  an  der  Wand/  Xothung,  der 
treue  Freund,/  als  die  Traute  sein  Herr  sich  gefreit."/  The 
hero  is  put  on  the  defensive  here  before  Gutrune  a  second  time — 
in  Raupach  and  Hebbel  only  before  the  (piarrcl :  "Treulos.  Sieg- 
fried,/ sannest  du  Trug?  P.ezeuge,  dasz  falsch/  jene  dich 
zeiht!"/ 

The  scene  results  in  an  oath,  as  in  Kanpach  and  Hebbel.  and 
in  Siegfried's  relation  to  Hagen  we  have  a  touch  of  tragic  irony 
that  reminds  one  slightly  of  the  situation  in  Hebbel.  Here  Sieg- 
fried says,  taking  oath  on  Hagen's  sjiear :  "wo  der  Tod  mich  trifft,/ 
treffe  du  mich;/  klagte  das  Weib  doch  wahr,"  etc./  and  it  is 
all  only  too  terribly  brought  to  pass.  In  Hebbel  the  tragic  irony 
is  yet  more  striking  in  that  Hagen  skilfully  leads  Siegfried  t(^ 

(182) 


59 

characterize  himself  unconsciously  as  a  villain  deserving  of  the 
death  that  soon  comes  to  him. 

In  Wagner,  as  in  Hebbel,  the  first  suggestion  of  Siegfried's 
death  comes  from  Hagen,  tho  in  the  latter  Briinnhilde  assumes 
that  outcome  as  absolutely  a  matter  of  course.  In  Wagner  she  is 
dimly  conscious  that  the  hero  does  not  recognize  her :  "Siegfried 

kennt  mich  nicht?"/  and  her  desire  for  revenge  is  mingled 

with  something  of  pathos,  since  she  regards  the  situation  as  part 
of  her  punishment  inflicted  by  the  gods:  "Heilige  Gotter!/ 
Lehrt  ihr  mich  Leiden/  wie  keiner  sie  litt?- '/  Her  feeling  of  the 
inexplicability  of  the  situation — a  feeling  that  there  was  some- 
thing needing  explanation — is  not  unnatural  from  her  earlier 
acquaintance  with  Siegfried  and  in  view  of  her  relation  to  the 
gods.  That  she  should  reflect  upon  this  and  still  resolve  upon  his 
death  seems  less  natural,  but  it  is  made  reasonable  by  Hagen's 
interpretation  of  the  case. 

Siegfried  has  not  here  the  understanding  of  human  nature 
that  served  liim  in  his  relation  to  Mime,  but  there  doubtless  he 
had  learned  to  judge  thru  his  years  of  association  with  the  smith. 
He  says  noAV :  "Gonnt  ihr  WeiP  und  Ruh,'/  der  wilden  Felsen- 
Frau,/  dasz  die  frcshe  Wuth  sich  erlege.  . .  ./  Doch  Frauen- 
groll/  friedet  sich  bald."/  His  judgment  is,  of  course,  clouded,  too, 
by  his  f jrgetfulness  of  past  events.  His  characterization  of  the 
scene  as  "Weiber-Gekeif"  recalls  Fouque  and  Raupach  and  sug- 
gests Hebbel. 

That  he  still  docs  not  recall  any  compunctions  of  conscience 
concerning  the  deceit  is  sliown  in  his  speech  to  Gunther :  "Glaub', 
mehr  ztirnt's  mich  als  dich,/    dasz  schlecht  ich  sie  getauscht."/ 

Scene  V. 
In  Brtinnhilde's  attitude  toward  the  proposed  death  of  Sieg- 
fried we  do  not  have  such  a  feeling  of  absolute  necessity  as  in 
Hebbel.  As  suggested  above,  she  feels  conscious  of  some  ex- 
ternal force.  She  feels,  however,  helpless  in  her  effort  to  solve 
the  problem,  and  not  having  any  way  to  establish  Siegfried's  in- 

(183) 


60 

nocence  she  is  obliged  to  believe  his  shameless  deceit  and  to  de- 
mand revenge. 

Tliat  the  fact  that  Briinnliilde  has  imparted  her  knowledge 
to  SieglricHl  should  dojn-ive  her  of  her  wisdom  might  at  first 
seem  purely  mythical  motivation  (and  it  has  mythical  basis) 
but  it  seems  reasonable  that  new  interests  should  make  old  ones 
grow  dim. 

She  expresses  an  idea  similar  to  that  expressed  by  Hagen 
in  Hel)l»el,  but  with  a  some\vhat  ditferent  turn:  'Mn  seiner  Macht 
iiiilt  er  die  Magd:/  in  seinen  Banden/  faszt  er  die  Beute, 
die,  jammernd  ob  ihrer  Schmacli,/  jauchzend  der  Reiche  ver- 
schenkt!"/  (In  the  Entwurf  and  in  Siegfrieds  Tod  she  says: 
"Du  ubermiithiger  Held,/  wie'  hieltest  du  mich  gebannt!" 
She  refers,  however,  to  her  helplessness  in  taking  revenge,  while 
Hagen  refers  rather  to  Siegfried's  irresistible  attraction  for  her, 
a  feeling  tliat  luid  to  be  satisfied  by  tlie  hero's  death  since  her 
love  was  spurned.  The  idea  that  she  has  been  transferred  as  a 
chattel  is  present  here  too  as  in  Hebbel  where  she  regards  her- 
self as  the  despised  "Pfennig." 

Her  admiration  for  Siegfried  remains  in  spite  of  her  bitter- 
ness and  causes  her  to  be  contemptuous  of  Hagen's  plan.  Briiun- 
hilde's  speech :  "Niclit  eine  Kunst/  war  mir  bekannt,/  die  zum 
Heil  nicht  half  seinem  Leib."/  etc.  is  another  use  of  magic  mo- 
tive, not  out  of  harmony  with  the  hero's  own  spirit,  however. 
We  feel  that  it  is  not  necessary,  but  is  made  acceptable  by  the 
fact  that  Briinnliilde  was  Wotan's  warrior  maid,  and  also  by  its 
incompleteness:  "Niemals — das  wuszt'  ich — /  wich  er  dem 
Feind,/  nie  reicht'  er  ihm  fliehend  den  Kiicken:/  an  ihm  d'rum 
spart'  ich  den  Segen."/  This  solution  makes  the  hero  more  at- 
tractive to  me  than  that  of  Hebbel,  but  the  latter  was  more  suit- 
able for  Hebbel's  purpose  and  gave  opportunity  to  make  a  more 
plausible  hero  of  Hagen,  while  here  the  latter  is  a  miserable  in- 
triguer. In  Hebbel,  too,  Siegfried's  invulnerability  was  in  ac- 
cord with  his  character. 

(184) 


61 

The  character  of  Gunther  is,  it  is  true,  weak  in  all  accounts 
but  here  his  morality  suffers  more  than  elsewhere.     In  Fouqu6, 
and  in   IJaupach   in     the     earlier     scenes     he  is  by  no  means 
attractive,  and  in  the  former  quite  unattractive  since  he  becomes 
eager  for  Siegfried's  death,  but  it  is  after  a  long  and  hopeless 
struggle  to  pacify  Brtinnhilde.     In  Hebbel,  as  in  Raupach,  he 
protests  vigorously  against  the  sacrifice  of  his  friend  and  feels 
his  own  humiliating  part.     In  Hebbel  he  never  really  consents 
tho  he  feels  compelled  by  circumstances  and  does  not  hinder.     In 
Wagner  he  is  not  the  champion  of  his  benefactor,  but  while  he 
recognizes  his  own  guilt,  regards  himself  as  the  victim  of  deceit, 
accepting  the  assertion  of  Hagen  and  Brtinnhilde  rather  than  be- 
lieving Siegfried's  oath.     In  rhetorical  phrases  he  even  appeals 
to  Ilagen  for  aid:     "Betrtiger  ich — und  betrogen!/     Verrather 
icli — und  vorra then!/      Zermalmt  mir  das  Mark,/    zerbrecht  mir 
die  Brust/  Hilf,  Ilagen!  Hilf  meiner  Ehr!"/  In  Fouque,  too,  he 
was  distrustful  of  Siegfried  at  the  home  of  the  conquest,  but  un- 
successful himself  lie  entered  into  the  arrangement  with   Sieg- 
fried only  under  protest,  at  his  mother's  instigation,  and  feels  the 
strange  effect  of  the  magic  exchange  of  form. 

In  Wagner  Gunther  shudders  at  the  breaking  of  the  oath. 
( In  Fouque  too  he  on  that  account,  as  in  the  Northern  mythology, 
finds  a  substitute.)  It  is  chiefly  the  oath  which  troubles  him 
here,  moreover,  and  when  Hagen  plays  upon  his  desire  for  gain — 
a  desire  that  the  latter  has  already  suggested  to  him  in  the 
first  scene — he  yields  without  much  protest.  Wagner,  of  course, 
illustrates  again  the  central  thought  of  the  drama  by  bringing 
Gunther  under  the  curse,  but  lowers  his  character.  In  the  Nibe- 
ungen  Lied  Hagen  suggests  to  him  that  he  could  have  more 
power  if  Siegfried  were  out  of  the  way,  but  we  do  not  look  upon 
that  as  an  important  influence. 

In  all  renderings  of  the  story  the  wonder  is  that  so  weak  a 
character  should  enjoy  so  much  fame,  but  in  Fouque,  Raupach 
and  Hebbel  we  have  more  idea  of  his  own  love  of  conquest  and 

(185) 


62 

liear  more  of  his  prowess  in  contest  with  otliers  of  mere  mortal 
strength.  His  fame  was  doubtless  augmented,  too,  by  his  posi- 
tion of  i)0wer  and  l\y  the  support  of  Hagen.  In  Wagner  he  ac- 
knowledged his  indebtedness  to  Hagen  in  the  opening  scene,  and 
we  find  the  same  situation,  due  to  a  nobler  motive,  in  Raapach 
and  Hebbel,  on  Hagen's  part. 

The  deception  of  Gutrune  furnishes  the  pretext  for  the  hunt. 

Act  III,  Scene  I. 

Shortly  before  hjs  death  Siegfried  is  given  a  chance  to  return 
the  ring  to  the  Rhine  and  thus  remove  Hagen's  motive  for  killing 
him — tho  not  Briinnhilde  s  unless  Hagen  should  arrange  the 
diflSculties.  Now  he  is  represented, as  subjected  to  the  curse,  from 
which  Alberich  told  us  he  was  free.  He  did  remember  and 
quotes  now  the  promise  concerning  the  ring,  but  it  did  not  al- 
lure him.  He  does  not  covet  the  ring  for  itself  or  what  it  will 
bring — was  even  about  to  give  it  up  until  he  was  threatened. 
He  was  conscious  before  of  the  curse  upon  the  gold — tho  not  es- 
pecially upon  the  ring — but  had  no  reason  to  fear  it  since  he 
had  not  deserved  it,  and  he  has  not  yet,  as  far  as  he  knows  (and 
IS  there  unconscious  guilt?).  It  does  not  alter  the  situation,  as 
far  as  his  deserts  are  concerned  or  his  occasion  for  fear,  that  he  is 
told  more  specifically  that  the  one  who  made  the  ring  and  lost  it 
had  cursed  it:  "zu  zeugen  den  Tod/  dem,  der  ihn  triig'."/ 
There  is  nothing  said  here  of  a  wrong  done  to  the  Rhine  maids 
and  his  opportunity  and  consequent  duty  of  restoring  it  to  its 
rightful  owners.  The  remark  is  made  that  it  was  of  Rhine  gold 
but  nothing  is  said  about  the  vow  thru  which  it  was  taken.  The 
only  wrong  implied  is  one  to  the  maker  of  the  ring,  and  one  who 
did  not  understand  the  whole  story  would  naturally  suppose  that 
to  him  restitution  should  be  made.  Only  an  artificial  and  enig- 
matic motivation  is  given :  "Nur  seine  Fluth/  stihnet  den  Finch."/ 
How  should  Siegfried  know  that  this  is  not  merely  a  scheme  to  ob- 
tain the  ring?  That  Fafner's  speech  has  not  caused  him  to  pay  at- 
tention to  this  warning  is  explained  below  (pp.  63-5^1).     I  can  see 

(186) 


63 

no  reason  why  Siegfried,  should  not  have  the  same  feeling  of  se- 
curity as  formerly. 

Meinck   (p.  63)   says  the  maids  did  not  at  first  receive  the 
ring,  "weil  nur     ein  Wissender  den  Ring  vom  Fluche  befreien 
kann."    This  success  in  freeing  from  the  curse  has  been  discussed^ 
But  he  must  be  a  knower  of  what?    is  a  pertinent  question.     Is 
not  a  consciousness  of  guilty  possession  necessary,  in  order  that 
such  a  curse  may  really  be  a  curse — or  prove  efficacious?    That 
he  has  no  reason  to  feel.    He  obtained  the  ring  fairly  (he  seems 
to  have  in  mind  only  the  first  time  he  won  the  ring),  does  not 
know  of  the  robbery  and  can  justly  cast  aside  threats  even  indig- 
nantly.   There  is,  however,  an  element  in  his  character  that  seems 
to  suggest  love  of  power — or  rather  of  independence — not  because 
of  any  ring  but  because  of  his  own  merit.    He  goes  farther  than 
the  mere  defiance  of  the  maids  and  a  superstition  which  they  are 
trying  to  impose.     Siegfried  says  in  Siegfrieds  Tod:     "Eurem 
Fluche  fliehe  ich  nicht,/    noch  weich'  ich  der  Nornen  Gewebe!/ 
Wozu  mein  Muth  mich  mahnt,/  das  ist  mir  Urgesetz, — /     und 
was  mein  Sinn  mir  ersieht,/    das  ist  mir  so  bestimmt,"  in  reply 
to  the  mermaid's  warning:     ''Ihn  (den  Fluch)  flochten  webende 
Nornen/   m  des  Urgesetzes  Sell."     That  warning  is  omitted  m 
the  last  rendering  in  this  connection,  however,  tho  it  would    or 
should,  have  come  nearer  to  giving  him  some  feeling  of  responsi- 
bility.   The  attitude  is  preserved,  however,  since  he  seems  in  some 
way  to  have  become  conscious  of  the  spear  which  he  shattered  and 
is  willing  to  pit  himself  against  fate   (but  does  not  even  that 
rest  upon  a  consciousness,  in  reference  to  the  curse  at  least,  of  an 
innocence  that  justifies  him?)  :    "Mein  Schwert  zerschwang  einen 
Speer :/    des  Urgesetzes/    ewiges  Sell,/    flochten  sie  wilde/    Flti- 
che  hinein,/  Nothung  zerhaut  es  den  Nornen !"/    Again,  in  speak- 
ing of  Fafner's  warning  against  the  curse,  Siegfried  seems  to  con- 
sider the  world  in  conspiracy  to  teach  him  fear  and  says:    "doch 
das  Fiirchten  lehrt  er  mich  nicht."/    His  attitude  toward  Fafner 

^cf.  p.  21. 

(187) 


64 

and  fear  in  general  is  consistent  tliruout.  The  fact  that  the  first 
suggestion  came  from  Mime,  of  whom  he  had  a  profound  distrust, 
was  sufficient  to  impress  upon  his  mind  tlie  importance  of  resis- 
tance to  any  such  feeling — his  resistance  was  of  course  innate 
anyway.  I  can  see  no  guili,  or  reason  for  his  being  subjected  to 
the  curse,  other  than  a  courage  that  tends  perhaps  toward  pre- 
sumption. 

Life  that  was  saved  thru  fear  would  be,  moreover,  contempti- 
ble, intolerable  to  him.  In  Siegfrieds  Tod  he  says:  "Nun  sollt' 
ich  selbst  mich  entmannen,/  mit  dem  Ring  verthun  meinen 
Muth'V  and  in  the  last  rendering:  "Denn  Leben  und  Leib/ 
sollt'  ohne  Lieb/  in  der  Furcht  Bande/  bang  ich  sie  fesseln — / 
Leben  und  Leib — /  seht !  so/    werf  ich  sie  weit  von  mir !"/ 

The  connection  of  the  second  line  is  by  no  means  clear.  It 
seems  to  fall  out  of  a  clear  sky.  Siegfried  has  not  given  evidence 
of  any  high  conception  of  love.  Indeed,  his  attitude  toward  the 
Rhine  maids  has  lowered  our  opinion  of  his  conception.  Wagner, 
of  course,  ^  regarded  the  union  of  man  and  wopian  thru  love  as 
forming  the  perfect  human  being,  in  that  each  is  a  complement  to 
the  other,  and  making  possible,  thus,  the  redemption.  But  he 
certainly  does  not  present  his  idea  in  any  convincing  light. 

If,  however,  one  accepts  the  Rhine  maids'  warning  as  suffi- 
ciently clear,  then  Siegfried  may  perhaps,  as  Brtinuhilde,  be  re- 
garded as  declining  a  mission  that  it  was  his  duty  to  perform. 
Meinck  (p.  62)  takes  a  view  similar  to  this:  "Allein  der  Finch 
hat  an  ihm  nur  so  lange  keine  Macht,  als  der  Held  von  der  unheil- 
vollen  Bedeutung  des  Ringes  noch  keine  Kenntnis  hat.  So- 
bald  er  aber  diese  Bedeutung  des  Ringes  weisz  und 
ihn  trotzdem  nicht  fortgiebt,  macht  er  sich  dadurch 
derselben  Schuld  teilhaftig  wie  friiher  seine  Braut  Brtinu- 
hilde." I  should  not  lay  the  stress  on  the  "unheilvolle 
Bedeutung"  as  far  as  he  himself  was  concerned,  however, 
for  the  ring  has  i)roved  powerless  to  rouse  in  him  any  passion  of 

'Letter  to  Roeckel,  Jan.  25,  1854. 

(188) 


65 

covetousness  and  that  woul<l  then  be  au  external  motivation.  His 
case  is  not  similar  to  that  of  Brunnhilde,  since  she  was  conscious 
of  the  necessity  of  the  gods.  Siegfried  interprets  the  maids'  warn- 
ing as  referring  to  himself,  not  to  mankind  that  he  is  to  save.  It 
appeals  to  him  therefore  not  as  a  mission  but  as  a  threat  to  yield 
to  which  would  be  a  disgrace  to  his  bravery,  and  to  defy  which 
would  prove  his  courage.  Wagner  in  his  Entwurf  says  concerning 
this  point :  "Er  hat  schuldlos  die  Schuld  der  Gotter  iibernommen, 
ihr  Unrecht  biiszt  er  an  sich  durch  seinen  Trotz,  seine  Selbst- 
standigkeit."  But  how  can  one  expiate  a  thing  of  which  one  is  not 
guilty,  and  if  it  is  truly  expiation  must  one  not  be  conscious  of  it 
as  such?  Siegfried  has  been  compared  to  Christ,  but  the  latter 
felt  burdened  with  a  mission  for  others. 

The  further  accusations  of  the  mermaids  Siegfried  naturally 
cannot  understand,  and  as  the  maids  approached  him  in  a  some- 
what piquant  manner  as  if  trying  to  inveigle  him  into  granting 
their  wish,  he  thinks  them  not  worth  heeding. 

The  end  of  his  speech :  "trtig'  ich  nicht  Outrun'  Treu',/  der 
zieren  Frauen  eine/  hatt'  ich  mir  frisch  gezahmt!"/  impresses 
one  as  being  rather  common,  and  lends  a  little  color  to  a  strain  of 
fickleness  in  his  disposition. 

Scene  II. 
The  second  potion  ^  administered  by  Hagen  furnished  to  the 
spectators  within  the  play  some  justification  as  avenging  a  per- 
jury confessed,  and  to  a  certain  extent  responds  to  a  feeling  on 
the  part  of  the  reader  that  Siegfried  should  not  die  in  a  false  re- 
lation. Yet  this  second  potion  from  a  dramatic  point  of  view 
makes  Siegfried's  character  improbable  as  it  has  no  psychological 
consistency.  Again  his  conduct  is  directly  contradictory  to  his 
feeling  shortly  before. 

Scene  III. 
The  third  scene  represents  Gutrune's  anxiety   about   Sieg- 
fried's failure  to  return  and  her  fear  of  Brunnhilde,  then  the  re- 

*cf.  Drews   (p.  105.) 

(189) 


66 

turn  of  the  hunting  party  and  Hagen's  cruel  announcement,  Gut- 
rune's  reproach  of  Gunther,  the  latter's  reproacli  of  Hagen,  with 
Hagen's  confession.  His  only  justification  is:  "Meinem  Speer 
war  er  gespart,/  bei  dem  er  Meineid  spracli,"/  a  pretext  which  he 
uses  also  to  gain  possession  of  the  ring,  killing  Gunther  who  tries 
to  prevent  it.  Siegfried's  uplifted  arm  then  solves  the  plot  in  an 
artificial  way,  preventing  Hagen  from  securing  the  ring.  That 
such  incidents  are  well  known  in  folk  lore  does  not  make  this 
convincing.  On  the  other  hand  how  is  this  interference  to  be  re- 
garded?— Other  than  from  Wotan?  And  in  that  case  why  is  he 
more  justified  now  than  before  in  interfering?^  Why  could  he 
not  have  avoided  all  this  sacrifice  of  others  and  returned  the  ring 
earlier  as  well  as  now?  Two  contradictions  of  earlier  motivation 
are  added,  then,  in  that  Wotan  ceases  to  be  inactive  and  Alberich's 
son  proves  useless  after  all. 

The  use  of  the  transcendental  here  differs  from  HebbeFs  use 
of  the  superstition  concerning  the  flowing  wounds,  in  that,  in  the 
latter  case,  the  subsequent  action,  or  solution  of  tlie  plot,  is  not 
made  to  depend  upon  it.  Kriemhild  already  believed  in  tlie  guilt 
of  Hagen,  and  we  are  not  to  imagine  that  her  desire  for  revenge 
was  based  on  this  incident,  tho  it  may  be  counted  as  one  of  the 
things  perhaps  adding  to  her  bitterness. 

The  summary  dismissal  of  Gutrune  has  been  criticised  and 
her  submissive  withdrawal  is  weak.  It  has  justification,  however, 
in  her  own  feeling  of  guilt  in  the  previous  consciousness  that  she 
was  causing  Siegfried  to  forget  some  one.  It  is  excused  by  some, 
moreover,  on  the  ground  that  Wagner  for  tlie  sake  of  unity  had  to 
sacrifice  one  heroine.  He  does  not,  however,  succeed  as  well  as 
Hebbel  in  preserving  the  mythological  strength  of  character  com- 
mon to  both  women,  altho  Hebbel  drops  Briinnhilde  early  from 
the  scene,  as  Wagner  does  Wotan.    From  the  very  fact  that  Heb- 


*0r  may  we  think  that  Wotan  has  risen  to  the  height  of  breaking  his  con- 
tracts and  thus  his  power  to  rule  the  world?  Wagner  has  not  seemed  to  imply 
this,  however. 

(190; 


67 

bel  does  remove  her  from  the  stage  he  is  the  better  able  to  preserve 
this  strength  thru  suggestion  without  at  all  taking  the  chief  in- 
terest from  Kriemhilde. 

The  situation  gives  Wagner  again  the  opportunity  for  the 
presentation  of  a  series  of  contradictions:  "Aechter  als  er/ 
schwur  keiner  Eide;/    treuer  als  er/    hielt  keiner  Vertrage ;"  etc./ 

Briinnhilde's  speech :  -'Durch  seine  tapferste  That,/  dir  so 
tauglich  erwtinscht, — /  weihtest  du  den,/  der  sie  gewirkt,/  des 
Verderbens  dunkler  Gewalt:"/  etc.  makes  us  wonder  still  more 
about  Wotan's  inactivity,  tho  it  is  natural  that  she  sould  interpret 
later  events  in  the  light  of  Wotan's  need  of  which  Waltraute  had 
told  her.  We  have  nevertheless  the  feeling  that  Wagner  is  speak- 
ing thru  the  whole  of  Briinnhilde's  last  speech,  as  he  certainly  is 
when  she  expounds  his  philosophy. 

The  symbolism  in  the  purification  of  the  ring  by  fire  is  very 
pretty  tho  Briinnhilde's  return  of  the  ring  to  the  Rhine  maids 
when  she  is  conscious  of  the  significance  ought  to  be  sufficient  to 
remove  from  her  the  curse  and  to  take  away  from  others  the  pos- 
sibility of  appropriating  it  to  wrong  uses.  ^ 

Briinnhilde's  speech  does  not  relieve  the  confusion  in  which 
we  have  found  ourselves  many  times.  In  both  the  Entwurf  and  in 
Siegfrieds  Tod  she  declares  not  only  the  curse  resolved  but  the 
servitude  of  Alberich  and  the  other  dwarfs  at  an  end  and  conducts 
Siegfried  to  Walhalla.  The  change  in  the  last  rendering  shows, 
of  course,  the  influence  of  Wagner's  later  ideas,  but  in  no  state  of 
clearness.  ^  We  are  in  doubt  as  to  whether  the  whole  world  is 
involved  as  in  the  Edda  but  have  the  impression  that  only  the  gods 
are  to  be  destroyed — a  fact  that  is  in  conflict  with  the  idea  in  the 
destruction  of  the  ash  but  is  more  in  accord  with  the  action  of  the 
drama.     (All  who  have  been  subjected  to  the  curse  have  died  un- 

'cf.  pp.  21,  47. 

^cf.  pp.  22,  47.  Drews  (p.  108)  says:  "Kein  Zweifel,  dasz  heirmit  nicht 
blosz  das  Reich  der  Gotter  untergeht,  sondern  dasz  die  Gotter  dammerung  zu- 
gleicli  das  Ende  das  Realen  iiberhaupt  bedeutet  Briinnhilde's  words,  then: 
"des  bliihenden  Lebens  bleibend-Geschlecht"  he  accepts  as  a  relic  of  the  earlier 
conception,  tho  now  inconsistent. 

(191) 


68 

less  we  interpret  the  wording  of  the  curse  to  include  everyone  since 
all  who  did  not  have  the  ring  should  desire  it.)  The  idea  that  a 
world  that  has  been  accustomed  to  guidance,  of  whatever  sort  it 
was,  should  be  left  to  take  care  of  itself,  even  with  the  additional 
message,  seems  absurd.  Are  we  to  suppose  now  an  age  of  inno- 
cence that  needs  no  guide?    That  does  not  seem  possible.^ 

Her  next  message  is :  "Nicht  Gut,  nicht  Gold,/  selig  in  Lust 
und  Leid/  liiszt — die  Lichc  nur  sein,'- — /  tlie  conclusion  of 
whicli  seems  hardly  to  imply  negation  of  the  will.  Critics  have 
objected  to  thinking  of  Briinnhilde  as  the  embodiment  of  redeem- 
ing love,  an  opinion  that  seems  reasonable.  It  seems  ratlier  that 
her  death  is  neither  necessary  nor  beneficial — the  aim  is  accom- 
plished with  the  return  of  the  ring  to  the  Khine,  and  she  does  not 
need  to  die  in  order  to  give  it  back.  Her  death  is  due  imly  to  the 
desolation  which  makes  her  life  no  longer  worth  living.  She  is 
enabled,  therefore,  to  carry  out  the  principle  of  the  negation  of 
the  will  to  live,  but  it  does  not  involve  special  heroism  or  spirit 
of  sacrifice  for  others.  She  rises  to  exultation  in  her  death,  but 
it  is  from  her  love  to  Siegfried. 

A  still  more  complete  destruction  than  in  the  Edda  is  iuiplied 
in  the  later  ending  given  by  Wagner  as  the  epitome  of  the  whole: 
"des  ew'gen  Werdens/  off-ne  Thore/  schliesz'  ich  hinter  mir  zu  :/ 
nach  dem  wunsch — und  wahnlos/  heiligstem  Wall  Hand,/  der 
Welt-Wanderung  Ziel,/  von  Wiedergeburt  erlos't,/  zieht  nun 
die  Wissende  hin./  Alles  Ew'gen/  sel'ges  Ende/  wiszt  ihr, 
wie  ich's  gewann?/  Trauernder  Liebe/  tiefstes  Leiden/  schlosz 
die  Augen  mir  auf :/  enden  sah  ich  die  Welt."/  This  seems  to 
suggest  the  end  of  everything  and  in  nothing,  a  fact  that  would 
make  the  preceding  message  useless.  We  are  by  no  means  sure 
how  to  interpret  the  last  message.  What  is  this  of  re-birth,  and 
how  extensive  is  this  freedom?  What  is  to  become  of  the  rest  of 
mankind?  Does  she  imply  a  new  world  to  begin,  as  prophecied  in 
the  Edda,  and  this  ideal  of  self-annihilation  ending  in  nothingness 

•cf.  pp.  36-37,  40. 

(192) 


69 

to  be  attained  thru  unhappy  love  as  in  her  case?  Truly,  I  cannot 
find  any  healthful  or  even  clear  philosophy.  Nor  has  there  been 
preparation  thruout  the  drama  for  this  philosophy  of  re-birth  or 
freedom  from  it.  It  is  simply  appended,  and  leaves  us  in  a  state 
of  hopeless  confusion. 

Brtinnhilde's  last  message,  as  the  one  preceding  it,  is,  of 
course,  omitted  in  the  stage  production,  in  accordance  with  Wag- 
ner's theory  of  the  function  of  music  to  solve  the  action  of  the 
drama  thru  reflection.  He  tliinks  to  appeal  thru  intuition  rather 
than  intellect.  He  does  not  "pose  as  a  dialectician"  and  his  "only 
language  is  Art,"  he  writes  to  Roeckel,  Aug.  23,  1856,  concerning 
this  message.  He  admits  that  in  Brtinnhilde's  first  speech  tho 
"she  declares  that  in  love  alone  is  blessedness  to  be  found"  she 
"does  not  make  quite  clear  what  the  nature  of  that  Love  is,  which 
in  the  development  of  the  myth  we  find  playing  the  part  of  de- 
structive genius."  He  thinks  then  that  Schopenhauer's  philosophy 
furnishes  the  keystone  of  his  poem  and  understands  thru  Schopen- 
hauer the  "difference  between  intellectual  conceptions  (Begriff) 
and  intuitions  (Anschauung)"  and  that  which  he  realizes  as  a 
truth  he  does  not  attempt  "to  force  on  others  by  means  of  dialec- 
tic." He  himself  cannot  be  convinced  "unless  his  deepest  intui- 
tions have  been  satisfied"  and  he  thinks,  then,  that  if  the  truth  of 
what  he  has  spoken  is  to  be  brought  home  to  any  one,  he,  the  hear- 
er, must  have  "felt  it  intuitively  before  he  grasp  it  intellectually." 
Musicians  do  not,  however,  agree  upon  the  clearness  of  Wagner's 
ideas  as  set  forth  by  the  music  here  but  say  that  confusion  has  be- 
come chaos. 


(198, 


70 


Conclusion. 

If  we  compare  the  Nibelungen  dramas  of  Wagner  and  Hebbel, 
we  notice  certain  similarities  of  aim.  P>otli  make  their  dramas 
the  vehicle  of  philosophical  ideas,  but  Wagner  leaves  us  in  confu- 
sion since  he  does  not  succeed  in  harmonizing  his  earlier  and  later 
conceptions  and  besides  leaves  mucli  to  the  music  to  perform. 
Both  represent  the  downfall  of  a  race,  but  in  Wagner  we  feel  it  is 
fortunate  that  that  race  is  no  more;  in  Hebbel  we  cannot  but  re- 
gret the  departed  heroism.  Both  attempt  a  conclusion  leading  the 
world  toward  a  better  state,  but  'Wagner  does  not  convince  us 
that  nothingness  is  a  better  state  (or  if  we  do  not  accept  tliat  in- 
terpretation, we  do  not  feel  that  the  world's  prospects  are  more 
hopeful)  ;  in  Hebbel  we  have  a  definite  conception  of  better  things 
to  come.  Both  make  use  of  the  mystical  element,  Wagner  as  a 
means  of  motivation  or  as  a  solution,  Hebbel  as  a  background  in 
harmony  with  the  human  characters,  not  always  happy  as  a  color- 
ing but  never  employed  as  an  interference  in  tlie  plot. 

Hebbel's  introduction  of  Christian  ideas  is  not  just  agreeable 
to  me,  but  the  conflict  resulting  is  consistently  carried  thru  tlie 
dramas,  while  Wagner's  philosophical  ideas  are  not  clearly  or 
consistently  developed.  We  at  first  think  there  is  in  the  person 
of  Wotan  a  conflict  between  selfishness  and  love,  then  see  no  re- 
sult in  the  victory  of  the  latter  (e.  g.  the  redemption  of  the  God- 
dess of  Love).  We  have  no  clear  idea  of  where  his  career  of  self- 
ishness ends  and  that  of  renunciation,  or  rather  negation  of  will 
(cf.  Chamberlain's  Das  Drama  Richard  Waf/nrr's,  p.  107)  begins. 
Wotan's  self  conquest  in  the  second  act  of  Rheingold  ( tho  due  to 
fear)  ought  to  lead  to  son>.ething  but  cannot  on  account  of  the 
situation.  But  what,  then,  is  the  dramatic  struggle  or  develop- 
ment? We  find  rather  a  series  of  scenes  and  are  forced  to  fill  in 
the  development  for  ourselves.     The  stages  of  Wotan's  "soul-de- 

(194) 


71 

velopment"  are  these:  He  is  lost  to  begin  with,  fears,  realizes 
that  his  fear  is  well  grounded  (scene  with  Briinnhilde)  and  de- 
spairs, but  finds  apparent  outlet  (in  Siegfried),  resigns  himself 
to  defeat,  hopes  (in  speech  to  Waltraute),  intervenes  and  defeats 
Alberich,  by  the  lifted  arm.  Yet  his  voluntary  fall  is  from  a  dis- 
satisfaction with  his  work  (i.  e,  failure,  according  to  Chamberlain 
and  others,  to  reconcile  love  and  power ) .  Nevertheless  the  wrong 
feeling  has  been  produced  on  our  part,  for  the  outAvitting  of  Albe- 
rich would  seem  to  be  the  first  step  in  the  solution  of  the  problem. 
The  fall  of  Wotan  is  made  necessary  thru  the  epic  motivation  in 
the  fall  of  the  ash,  but  this  has  no  vital,  at  least  evident,  connec- 
tion with  Wotan's  state  of  mind  within  the  drama. 

Wagner's  attitude  of  regarding  Siegfried,  or  Siegfried  and 
Briinnhilde  together,  as  performing  the  function  of  a  redeemer 
seems  unwarranted.  They  fill  that  place  only  mechanically  and 
not  because  they  rise  to  any  height  of  unselfish  love  for  the  com- 
mon good.  Siegfried's  ideal  of  love  is  not  an  exalted  one  (cf.  p. 
64)  and  Briinnhilde  gives  up  her  life  only  when  it  has  no  more 
sweetness.  The  return  of  the  ring  does  not  involve  her  death,  and 
the  return  of  the  ring  seems  to  have  been  brought  about  by  Wotan 
himself  who  w^as  supposed  to  be  inactive. 

We  do  not  feel  convinced,  moreover,  that  Wotan  in  his  deatli 
has  reached  any  tragic  height.  He  dies  only  as  a  despairing  crimi- 
nal, and  the  work  he  was  too  weak  and  miserable  to  perform  is 
in  just  as  sad  a  state  as  before.  Wagner  has  not  succeeded  in  mak- 
ing nothingness  seem  a  desirable  or  plausible  goal,  yet  unless  that 
is  the  solution  the  world  has  little  to  hope.  For  tho  the  ring  is 
returned,  Alberich  lives  and  the  principle  of  evil  is  not  eliminated 
from  men's  minds.  What  a  contrast  Wotan  presents  to  such  a 
character  as  Faust,  or  to  Gyges  and  Dietrich  who  do  rise  to  tragic 
renunciation,  who  resolve  to  live,  not  for  the  joy  of  living  but 
without  that  to  spend  themselves  for  others  !^ 

Tho  in  some  details  Hebbel  is  not  happy,  we  find  carried  out 

^Robert's  explanation  (Philosophie  et  Drame,  p.  105)  hardly  seems  satis- 
factory. 

(195) 


72 

in  liis  Nibehnigcn  the  broad  outlines  of  a  drama  of  tremendous 
proportions,  an  action  moving  majestically  toward  a  climax  of 
coinpollinfj  grandeur  and  dignity  that  carries  one  with  it  whether 
one  will  or  not.  It  j^resents  again  a  c()ntrast  to  the  plan  of  Wag- 
ner who  do('s  not  have  in  view  from  the  beginning  the  end  toward 
which  he  may  consistently  work. 


(196) 


73 


VITA 

The  writer  was  born  July  17,  1878,  near  Canton,  Illinois,  was 
a  graduate  of  Canton  High  !r5chool  in  1896,  remained  for  one  year 
of  post-graduate  work  there  1896-7,  spent  the  years  1897-1901  at 
the  University  of  Illinois  and  received  the  A.  B.  degree  with  first 
honors  in  1901,  in  the  German-Latin  course.  She  was  a  teacher 
of  English  and  German  in  the  high  school  at  Lincoln,  Illinois,  in 
1901-2  and  of  English  at  the  East  Side  High  School  of  Aurora, 
Illinois  in  1902-4.  She  spent  eight  months  of  the  year  1904-5  in 
Germany  studying  at  the  University  of  Leipsig  during  the  winter 
semester.  There  she  attended  lectures  in  German  literature  by 
Professors  Koster,  Witkowski  and  Holz.  In  September  1905  she 
returned  as  a  graduate-assistant  in  German  to  the  University  of 
Illinois,  taking  work  in  German  under  Prof.  N.  C.  Brooks.  She 
received  the  degree  of  A.  M.  in  June  1906,  presenting  a  thesis  en- 
titled "The  Influence  of  Fouque's  Sigurd  upon  Wagner's  Nibe- 
lungen  Ring,"  In  1906-8  she  was  fellow  in  German  at  the  Univer- 
sity of  Illinois  pursuing  the  study  of  German  literature  under 
Prof.  O.  E.  Lessing  and  Prof.  N.  C.  Brooks,  of  Germanic  Philology 
under  the  late  Prof.  G.  E.  Karsten  and  Dr.  J.  Wiehr,  and  of  Latin 
under  Prof.  H.  J.  Barton  and  Dr.  Edward  Hope. 


(197) 


BOOKS   AND   ARTICLES    PUBLISHED   BY   THE   CORPS   OF   INSTRUC- 
TION, UNIVERSITY   OF  ILLINOIS,  BETWEEN 

MAY  I,  1908,  AND  MAY  i,  1909.* 

Abrams,  Duff  A.,  See  Talbot,  A.  N. — 
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"The  Verbal  in  -teo  in  Polybius."    Classical  Philology,  Vol.  IV.,  No.  i, 
pp.  52-56,  January,  1909. 
"  "Can   Students  Learn  to  Read  the  Classics."     The  Classical  Weekly, 

N.  Y.,  Vol.  II,  No.  14,  pp.  106-107,  January  30,  1909. 
Alvord,  C.  W. — 

"Genesis  of  the  Proclamation  of   1763."     Michigan   Pioneer  and  His- 
torical Collections,  Lansing,  Mich.,  36:14.      (16,000). 
"  "The  British  Ministry  and  the  Treaty  of  Fort  Stanwix."     Proc.  of  the 

State  Hist.  Soc.  of  Wisconsin,  Madison,  Wis.,  p.  165,  1908.  (7500). 
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AuMER,  Joseph.    See  Isham,  Helen. 
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Scientific   Press,  pp.   152,   153;   187-189,  with  illustrations,  August 
I  and  8,  1908.     (5000). 
"  "Some  Copper  Deposits  of  the  Sangre  de  Christo  Range,  Colorado." 

Economic  Geology,  Vol.  Ill,  No.  8,  pp.  739-749,  December,   1908. 
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"  "Notes  on  the  Distribution  of  the  Mastodon  in  Illinois."    Univ.  of  111. 

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Bagley,  W.  C. — 

"How  Can  We  Improve  the  Efficiency  of  the  Teaching  Force?"    N.  Y. 

Education  Department  Bulletin,  Albany,  424,  May,  1908.     (5000) 

"  "The  Test  of  Efficiency  in  Supervision."    School  and  Home  Education, 

Bloomington,  27:10,  June,  1908.     (2500)      (Reprinted  from  N.  Y. 

Education  Dep't.  Bulletin.) 

"  "The  Pedagogy  of  Morality  and  Religion  as  Related  to  the  Periods  of 

♦Reprinted  from  the  University  Studies  Vol.  Ill,  No.  4,  May,  1909 

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76 

Baglev,  W.  C— 

Development."     Address   before   the    Xortliern    Illinois   Teacherr 
Association,   Nov.   7,    1908.     Printed  by  the   Association.      (5000) 
Also  reprinted  in  Religious  Education,  Chicago,  4:1,  April,   1909. 
"  "Waste   in   Education :      Remedies."     Address   before   Military    Tract 

Teachers'  Association,  Oct.  23,  1908.     Printed  by  the  Association. 
(4000) 
"  "Elective  Subjects  in  the  High  School  Curriculum."     School  Review, 

Chicago,  16:9,  November,  1908.     (3500) 
"  "The  Psychology  of  School  Practice."     Psych.     Bull.,  Lancaster.   Pa., 

6:3,  March  15,  1909.     (2500) 
"  "The  Educative   Process."     pp.   xix,  358.     Macmillan,  N.   Y.,  7th  im- 

pression, 1908. 
"  "Classroom   Management."  pp.   xvii,  322.     Macmillan,   N.   Y.,  8th   im- 

presion,  1909. 
Baird,  J.  \V.— 

"The    Problems    of    Color    Blindness."      Psych.    Bull.,    Baltimore,    V, 
1909.     (3200) 
Baker,  Ira  O. — 

"Cement    Laboratory    Practice."      Proc.    Soc.    for    Promotion    Eng'g 
Education,  Brooklyn,  N.  Y.,  1908.     (5800) 
"  "Making  Mortar  Impervious."  The  Technograph,  U.  of  111.     (2600) 

Balke,  C.  W.  and  Smith,  Edgar  F. — 

"Observations  on  Columbium."     Amer.  Chem.   Soc,  30,  pp.  1638-1668, 
November,  1908. 
Ballenger,  William  L. — 

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Philadelphia,  April,  1908. 
Barto,  D.  O.— 

"Problems    in    Secondary    School    Agriculture."      School    Science    and 
Mathematics,  Chicago,  9:3,  March,   1909.      (3800) 
Bartow.  Edward — 

"Surface  Water  Supplies  of  Illinois."     Twenty-Third  Annual  Report 
of  the  Illinois   Soc.   of   Engineers   and   Surveyors,  Chicago,   1908. 
(1750) 
"  "Normal  Waters  of  Illinois."     Public  Health  Papers  and  Reports  of 

the  American  Public  Health  Association.     Vol.  XXXIII,  Part  II, 
B.     Also  Amer.  Jour,  of  Hygiene,  Boston,  May,  1908.     (1000) 
"  and  Sellards,  A.  W.,  Bain,  W.  G.  and  Lindgren,  J.  M. — 

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^  from  Sept.   i,   1906,  to  Dec.  31,  1907.     Bull.  Univ.  of  111.,  Water 

Survey  Series  No.  6,  September,  1908.     (88  pp.) 

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Bayley,  W.  S.— 

"Pre  Cambriam  Rocks"  (In  the  Passic  Quadrangle  N.  J.  N.  Y.)-  Folio 

No.  157,  Geologic  Atlas  of  the  United  States,  U.  S.  Geol.  Survey, 

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"  "Structure  of  the   Highlands  Area."     Folio   No.    157,   Geologic   Atlas 

of  the  United  States,  U.  S.  Geol.  Survey,  Washington,  1908.  (iioo) 

"  "Economic   Geology."    Folio   No.    157,    Geologic   Atlas   of   the   United 

States,  U.  S.  Geol.  Survey,  Washington,  1908.     (3600) 
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sey."    The  University  Studies,  Vol.  3,  No.  2;  Univ.  of  111.,  Bull., 
Vol.  6,  No.  17,  pp.  5-19,  1909.     (4000) 
"  "The  American  Association  for  the  Advancement  of  Science,  Sec.  E." 

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No.  697,  pp.  721-733-     (6500) 
"  "Note  on  the  Occurrence  of  Graphite  Schist  in  Tuxedo  Park,  N.  Y." 

Economic  Geology,  Vol.  3,  No.  6,  p.  535.     (350) 
"  and  Clapp,  F.  C. — 

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Paper  223,  U.  S.  Geol.  Survey,  1909. 
Bevier,  Isabel,  and  Usher,  Susannah — 

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Brooks,  N.  C. — 

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Brown,  Edward  M. — 

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October,  1908.     (1500) 
Byford,  Henry  T. — 

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Carpenter,  F.  W. — 

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18:5,  November,  1908.     (3000) 
Case,  J.  W.—  '."i'^^i 

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Louis,  Vol.  I,  No.  6,  illustrated,  March,  1909.     (600) 

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delphia, illustrated,,  April,  1909.     (400) 
Center,  O.  D. — 

"Distance  Between   Hills   for  Corn  in   the  Illinois   Corn   Belt."     Exp. 
Sta.   Bull.,   No.   126,  July,    1908. 

'  "Quantity  of  Oat  Seed  per  Acre."  Breeders'  Gazette,  Chicago,  53  ^M. 

April,  1908.     (1200) 

"  "Spring  Wheat  in   Illinois."     Breeders'   Gazette,   Chicago,   54:22,   No- 

vember, 1908.     (900) 

"  "Cow   Peas  and  Soy   Beans  in   Illinois."    Breeders'   Gazette,   Chicago, 

54:5,  February,  1909.     (1200) 

"  "Red  Clover  and  Oats."     Breeders'  Gazette,  Chicago,  54:8,  February, 

1909.     (800) 

"  "Permanent  Pasture."  Breeders'  Gazette,  Chicago,  February,  1909.  (500) 

"  "Weevil  in  Clover  Seed."     Breeders'  Gazette,  Chicago,  54:10,   March, 

1909.     (300) 

"  "Canada   Field   Peas   in    Illinois."    Breeders'    Gazette,   Chicago,   54:13, 

March,  1909.     (700) 

"  "Adulterated  Clover  Seed."     Breeders'  Gazette,  Chicago.  54:14.  .'Kpril 

1909.     (1000) 

"  "Seed  and  Hay  from  1907  Clover."     Breeders'  Gazette,  Chicago,  54:i5, 

April,  1909.     (200) 

"  "Surface   Cultivation."     The  Furrow,  Moline.      (2000) 

Chiles,  J.  .\. — 

"Ueber  den   Gebrauch  des   Beiwortes  in   Heine's  Gedichten."  pp.    112. 
Dissertation,  University  of  Illinois,   1908. 
Clark,  A.  H.     See  Puckner,  W.  A. 
Ci.AKK,  Thomas  Arkle — 

"On  College  Discipline."  The  Spectator,  Madison,  Wis.,  February,  1909. 
"The  Fraternity  in  the  State  University."  Proc.  of  Religious  Education 
Assn.,  February,   T909.     Republished  in  University   .Alumni  Quar- 
terly, April,  1909,  and  in  Phi  Alpha,  May,  1909. 
"  "Democracy  in  College."     Alpha  Tau  Omega  Palm,  March.   1909. 

"  "Democracy  at  Illinois."  Alunmi  Quarterly,  Univ.  of  111.,  October.  1908. 

Coffey,  W.  C. — 

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'  "The  Sheep  Industry  from  the  Market  Standpoint."     Illinois   Station 

Circular  125. 
Crashaw,  F.  D.  and  Ben.vett,  Charles  A. — 

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"  and  Koch,  Alfred  R.,  and  Bartells,  E.  J. — 

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Soc,  Vol.  XXXI,  January,  1909.      (2500) 
"  and  Spencer,  F.  Grace — 

"Additional  Reactions  on  Methyl  Oxomalonate."     Abstract  of   Paper 
Given  Before  the  American  Chemical  Society,  New  Haven  Meet- 
ing, June,  1908.     Science  28,  August  7,  1908.     (250) 
Davenport,  Eugene — 

"Education   for  Efficiency."     Univ.   of  Tenn.,   Nashville,   Tenn.,   May 
28,  1909.     (8000) 
"  "Industrial  Education  With   Special  Reference  to  the  High   School," 

Univ.  of  111.,  November  20,  1908.     (7000) 
"  "Development  and  Its  Effect  Upon  Transmission."     American  Horse 

Breeder,   Boston,  Mass.,  December,   1908. 
"  "Relation  of   Nature-Study  and  Agriculture     in     Elementary     Rural 

Schools."     Nature-Study  Review,  December,  1908. 
"  "The  Development  of  American  Agriculture :   What  It  Is  and  What 

It  Means."    Univ.  of  Main,  Orono,  Me.,  January  20,  1909.  (12000) 
"  "Industrial  Education  a  Phase  of  the  Problem  of  Universal  Education." 

National  Education  Assn.,  Chicago,  February  25,  1909.     (5500) 
"  "Outline  of  Four  Years'  Work  in  High  School  Agriculture."     Univ. 

of  111.,  January,  1909. 
"  "Light  Thrown  Upon  Eugenics  by  the  Experiences  of  Animal  Breed- 

ing."    The  Medical  Reporter,  Chicago,  January,  1909.     (1200) 

Davidson,  Charles — 

"The  Sequelae  of  Acute  Diffuse   Suppurative  Peritonitis."     111.   Med. 
Jour.,  May,  1909.     (1000) 
Dietrich,  William — 

"Food  Requirements  of  Growing  and  Fattening  Swine."     Illinois  Ex- 
periment Station,  Circular  No.  126.     (18  pp.) 
Drury,  F.  K.  W.— 

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September,  1908.      (Proceedings  of  the  Minnetonka  Conference.) 
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DUFOUR,  F.   O. — 

"Bridge   Engineering-Roof  Trusses."     pp.   350.     American   School   of 
Correspondence,  Chicago,  1909. 
Duncan,  J.  C. — 

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"  "A  Definition  of   Accounting."     Jour,   of   Accountancy,   N.   Y.,   Feb- 

ruary, 1909.  Also  in  the  American  Economics  Association  Quar- 
terly of  April,  1909,  among  Papers  and  Discussions  of  Twenty-first 
Annual  Meeting,  December,  1908. 

ECKELMANN,  E.  O. — 

"Dr.    Alberts,   Hebbels    Stellung   zu    Shakespeare."     The   Journal   of 
English  and  Germanic  Philology,  7  :3,  July,  1908. 

ElSENDRATH,  D.  N. — 

"Surgical  Diagnosis."  pp.  750.     W.  B.  Saunders  Co.,  Phila.,  1908. 

ElSENDRATH,   D.    N. — 

"Renal  Calculi."     Southern  Med.  Jour.,  1909. 
"  "Acute  Forms  of  Abdominal  Tuberculosis."    Jour,  of  the  Amer   Med. 

Assn.,  1909. 

Emmett,  a.  D. — 

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Soc,  31 :6,  1909.     (1400) 
"  and  Grindley,  H.  S. — 

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Soc,  31  :s,  1909.     ("4500) 
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turist, 13:9,  1909.     (1600) 

Enger,  M.  L., — 

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of  the  Assn.  of  Engineering  Societies,  March,  1909.     (1500) 

FOLSOM,  J.  W. — 

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gist, 40:6,  June,  1908.     (1300) 
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Forbes,  S.  A. — 

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can Naturalist,  N.  Y.,  Vol.  XLII,  No.  500,  August,  1908.     (4500) 
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dent  of  American  Association  of  Economic  Entomologists.)     Jour, 
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Fuller,  William — 

"Intra-abdominal  Rotation  of  the  Great  Omentum,  Unaccompanied  by 
Herina."  Surgery,  Gynecology  and  Obstetrics,  August,  1908.  (3000) 
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"La  Vie   Politique  et   Parlementaire   dans   les   Etats-Unis."    (11   pp.). 
Revue    Politique   et    Parlementaire,    October,    1908.      Ibid,    14   pp., 
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Political  Science  Review.    November,  1908.    Ibid,  23  pp.,  February, 
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Gilbert,  Barry  and  Mechem,  Floyd — 

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St.  Paul,  Minn.,  1909. 
Gill,  J.  H.— 

"Heat  Treatment  of  Carbon  Steel."     Amer.  Machinist,  N.  Y.,  p.  844, 
December  10,  1908.     (1300) 
Girault,  a.  a. — 

"Texas,  Virginia  and  Maryland  Notes  on  the  Catalpa  Sphinx,  Cerato- 
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1908. 
"  "Demonstration  Spraying  in  Ohio  in  1907."     Bull.  No.  68,  Bureau  En- 

tomology, U.  S.  Dep't  of  Agriculture,  Washington,  D.  C,  pp.  75-76. 
1908. 
"  "Further  Biological   Notes  on  the   Colorado   Potato   Beetle,  Leptino- 

tarsa  decemlineata   (Say),  Including  Observations  on  the  Number 
of  Generations  and  Length  of  the  Period  of  Oviposition."  Annals 
Ent.   Soc.  Amer.,  Columbus,  O.,  I,  pp.   155-178.     1908. 
"  "Encarsia  versicolor  Species  Nova,  An  Eulophid  Parasite  of  the  Green- 

house Whitefly,  Aleyrodes  vaporarioruni     Westwood."       Psyche, 
Boston,  pp.  53-57.     1908. 
"  "Notes  on  the  Feeding  Habits  of  Cimex  lectularius,  Linnaeus.    Psyche, 

Boston,  pp.  85-87.     1908. 
"  "A  Monographic  Catalogue  of  the  Mymarid  Genus  Alaptus  Haliday, 

with  Descriptions  of  Three  New  North  American  Forms  and  of 
(205) 


82 

Alaptus  iceryae  Riley  from  Type  Material."     Annals     Ent.     Soc. 
Amer.,  Columbus,  O.,  I,  pp.  179-195;  text-figs,  1-5.     1908. 
"A  Peculiar  Case  of  Parasitism  with  Hemerocampa  leucostigma  Smith 
&  Abbot,  with  Description  of  a  New  Genus  and  Species  of  Ptero- 
malidae."     Psyche,  Boston,  XV,  pp.  89-96.     1908. 
"The  Oviposition  of  Chilocorus  bivulnerus  Mulsant."    Jour.  Economic 
Ent.,  Concord,  N.  H.,  I.  pp.  300-302.     1908. 
"  "Descriptions  of  Three  New  North  American  Chalcidoidea  of  the  Sub- 

families Mymarinae  and  Aphelininae."     Psyche,   Boston,  XV,  pp. 
115-121. 
"  "A  Bibliography  of  the  Bedbug,  Cimex  lectularius.",  II  Errata.     Zoo 

logische  Annalen,  Wuerzburg,  III.     1908. 
GiRAULT,  A.  A. — 

"A  Monographic  Catalogue     of  the     Mymarid     Genus     Camptoptera 
Foerster,  with  Description  of  One  New  North  American  Form." 
Annals  Ent.   Soc.   Amer.,  Columbus,  O.,  pp.  22-29;   text-figs,   1-2. 
1909. 
"  "A  New  Chalcidoid  of  the  Eulophid  Genus  Aphelinus  Dalman,  Parasi- 

tic on  Schizoneura  crataegi  Oestlund."     Psyche,  Boston,  XVI,  pp. 
29-31.     1909. 
"  "The  Future  of  Nomenclature."     Science,  April  30,  1909. 

Goodman,  F.  M. — 

"Plant  Classification  and  Conspectus  of  Natural  Orders  and  Their  Of- 
ficial Products."  pp.  36.    Frank  I.  Miller,  Bloomington,  111.,  1908. 
"  "Pharmacal    Names."     Bull,    of    Pharmacj',   Detroit,   Mich.,   February, 

1909.       (1600) 
Goss,  W.  F.  M.— 

"At  the  Head  of  the  Fastest  Train  in  Prussia."  Technograph  No.  22, 
Univ.  of  111.,  Urbana,  May,  1908. 
"  "Report  of  the  Standing  Committee  on  Brake  Shoes  of  the  Master  Car 

Builders'  Association."     Proc.  of  the  Assn.,  June,  1908. 
"  "Comparative  Tests  of  Run-of-Mine  and  Briquetted  Coal  on  Locomo- 

tives." U.  S.  Geol.  Survey  Bull.  No.  363,  Washington,  D.  C,  Septem- 
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"  "High  Steam-Pressures  in  Locomotive  Service."   (.\  Review  of  a  Re- 

port to  the  Carnegie   Institution  of   Washington).     Univ.   of   111. 
Engineering  Exp.  Stat.  Bull.  No.  26,  Urbana,  September,  1908. 
"  "The  Debt  of  Modern  Civilization  to  the  Steam-Engine."     Proc.   of 

the  Amer.  Soc.  of  Mechanical  Engineers,  N.  Y.,  April,   1909. 
Greene,  E.  B. — 

"Letters  to  Gustav  Koerner,  1837-1863  (edited  with  introductory 
note)."  Trans,  of  the  111.  State  Hist.  Society  for  1907,  pp.  222-246, 
Springfield,  1908. 

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Greenough,  C.  N. — 

"Some  Prerequisites  'or  Research  in  Literature."  Univ.  of  111.  Alumni 
Quarterly,  Urbana,  111.,  3  :2,  April,  1909.     (2000) 
Grindley,  H.  S.    See  Emmett,  A.  D. 

Harker,  Oliver  A. — 

"The  Contempt  Cases  Against  the  Labor  Leaders  and  the  Power  of 
the  President  to  Pardon."     Statutory  Appeal  in  Illinois.     Ill    Law 
Report. 
Harris,  F.  G.  and  Corbus,  B.  C. — 

"The  Value  of  the  Spirochaeta  Pallida  in  the  Diagnosis  and  Treat- 
ment of  Syphilis."  Jour.  Amer.  Med.  Assn.,  Chicago,  Dec.  1908. 

Haskins,  C.  N. — 

"On   the   Second   Theorem   of   the   Mean."     Annals   of   Mathematics, 
Cambridge,  July,  1908.     (2400) 

Haskins,  C.  N. — 

"On  the  Numerical  Computation  of  Reaction-velocity  Constants."  Bul- 
letin   No.    30,    Engineering   Exp.    Stat.,    Univ.    of    111.,    February, 
1909.     (2000) 
Hawk,  P.  B.— 

"Practical  Physiological  Chemistry."     pp.  XVI,  447.     Blakiston's  Sons 
&  Co.,  Philadelphia.,  February,  1909. 
"  "On  the  Diuresis  Following  Ether  Narcosis."    The  Journal  of  Medical 

Research,  Boston,  XIII  :2,  May,  1908.     (15000) 
"  and  Hanzlik,  P.  J. — 

"The  Uric  Acid  Excretion  of  Normal  Men."     The  Journal  of   Biol. 

Chemistry,  N.  Y.,  V:4,  December,  1908.     (4000) 
and  Howe,  P.  E.— 

"Comparative  Tests  of  Spiro's  and  Folin's  Methods  for  the  Determina- 
tion of  Ammonia  and  Urea."     The  Journal  of  Biol.     Chemistry, 
N.  Y.,  V,  S  and  6,  February,  1909.     (3500). 
"  and  Rehfuss,  M.  E. — 

"A  Study  of  Nylander's  Reaction."     Proc.  of  Amer.  Soc.     of     Biol. 
Chemists,  April,  1909. 
"  and  Howe,  P  .E.  and  Rutherford,  T.  A. — 

"On  the  Preservation  of  Feces."  Proc.  of  Amer.  Soc.  of  Biol.  Chemists, 
April,  1909. 

Hayes,  E.  C. — 

"Sociology  and  Psychology;  Sociology  and  Geography."    Amer.  Jour, 
of  Sociology,  Chicago,  14:3,  November,  1908.     (13000) 
Hollenbeck,  F.  D. — 

"Placenta  Previa."     Read  before  the  Illinois  State  Society  at  Peoria, 
May,  1908.     III.  State  Med.  Jour.,  November,  1908. 

(207) 


84 

HOLLISTER,  H.  A. — 

"Some  Results  from  the  Accrediting  of  High  Schools  by  State  Uni- 
versities."    Education,  Boston,  November,   1908. 
"  "What  Can  the  High  School  Do  to  Give  a  Better  Preparation  for  Life 

Than  It  Is  Now  Giving?"     School  and  Home  Education,  Novem- 
ber,   1908. 
Howe,  P.  E.  See  Hawk,  P.  B. 
Howe,  R.  B.— 

"Power  Sprayers."    Trans,  of  111.  Horticultural  Society,  Vol.  42,  New 
Series,  1908.     (5300) 
IsHAM,  Helen  and  Aumer,  Joseph. — 

"Direct  Combustion  of  Steel  for  Carbon  and  Sulphur."  Jour,  of  the 
Amer.  Chem.  Societ}',  30:1236,  August,  1908.     (1200) 

Irish,  H.  E. — 

"Should  Druggists  Manufacture  and  Dispense  Mixtures  of  Their  Own, 
And  Is  It  Adsivable  That  Doctors  Dispense  Their  Own  Drugs." 
111.  Med.  Jour.,  June,  1908.     (1500) 

Jones,  Grinnell. — 

"An  Explanation  of  the  Negative  Coefficient  of  Expansion  of   Silver 
Iodide."     Jour   of   the   Amer.    Chem.    Soc,   31  :2,   February,    1909. 
(4000) 
"  and  Richards,  T.  W. — 

"The  Compressibilities  of  the  Chlorides,  Bromides  and  Iodides  of 
Sodium,  Potassium,  Silver  and  Thallium."  Jour  of  the  Amer. 
Chem.  Soc,  31:2,  February,  1909.     (14000) 

Jones,  H.  S.  V. — 

"The  'Cleomades'  and   Related   Folk   Tales."     Pub.    of    the    Modern 
Language  Assn.  of  America,  XXIII  4  December,  1908.     (12300) 
Kerr,  J.  E.    See  MacNeal,  W.  J.   and  Latzer,  L.  L. 

Kinley,  David — 

"Democracy  and  Scholarship."       Science,  N.  Y.,  Oct.  16,  1908. 
"  "Movement  of  Population  from  Country  to  City."  Cyclopedia  of  Amer. 

Agriculture,  Vol.  IV,  1909. 
"  "The  Center  of  Agricultural  Production."     Ibid.     (5000) 

KoLLOCK,  Lily  G.  and  Smith,  Edgar  F. — 

"Determination  of  Zinc  with  Aid  of  the  Mercury  Cathode  and  Rctatm^ 
Anode."    Proc.  of  the  Electro-Chemical  Society,  N.  Y.,  1909  (2300) 

KUHLMANN,   F. — 

"The  Present  Status  of  Memory  Investigation."     Psych.    Bull..  Balti- 
more, Vol.  V,  No.  9,  September,  1908.     (3500) 
"  "On  the  Analysis  of  Auditory  Memory  Consciousness."     Amer.  Jour, 

of  Psych.,  Worcester,  Mass.,  Vol.  XX,  March,  1909.     (9500) 

(208) 


85 

Lacy,  B.  S. — 

"Einige  VersucKe  ueber  das  Leuchten  der  Bunsenflamme."    Zeitschrift 
fuer  Physikalische  Chemie,  64:633,  November,  1908.     (3000) 
Larson  Laurence  M. — 

"A   Financial   and   Administrative   History   of   Milvi^aukee."     pp.    1S2. 
Madison,  Wis.,  1908.  (Bulletin  of  the  Univ.  of  Wisconsin,  No.  242) 
Latzer,  L.  L.  See  MacNeal,  W.  J.  and  Kerr,  J.  E. 
Lessing,  O.  E. — 

"In  Memoriam  Gustaf  Karsten."     The  Journal  of  English  and  Ger- 
manic Philology,  Urbana,  April  (Sept.),  1908.     (870) 
"  "Kuno  Francke,  German  Ideals  of  To-day."     The  Journal  of  English 

and  Germanic  Philology,  Urbana,  July,  (Dec),  1908.     (1600). 
Litman,  Simon — 

"San  Francisco  as  a  Foreign  Shipping   Port."     Univ.   of     California 
Chronicle,  Berkeley,  X  :3,  July,  1908.     (2700) 
Lloyd,  John  W. — 

"The  Story  of  the  Gem  Melon."    Trans.  111.,  State  Horticulaural  Soc, 
42:140,  1908.     (4000) 
**  "Factors   Influencing  the   Quality  of   Vegetables."     Trans.   111.,    State 

Horticultural  Soc.  42:202,  1908.     (1600) 
"The  Tomato  Situation  in  Southern  Illinois."    Trans.  111.  State  Horti- 
cultural Soc,  42:390,  1908.     (1800) 
"  "Directions   for  Laboratory  Studies   of   Spraying   Materials."   pp.    16. 

Dept.  of  Horticulture,  Univ.  of  111.,  Urbana,  1909. 
McMaster,  C.  L. — 

"Notes  on  Practical  Mechanical  Draw^ing."    pp.  VII,  160.     Wilson  and 
McMaster,  Lansing,  Mich.,  1908. 
MacNeal,  W.  J.— 

"An   Improved   Thermoregulator."     Anatomical   Record,   Vol.   2,   pp. 
205-207,  August,  1908. 
"  and  Latzer,  L.  L.  and  Kerr,  J.  E. — 

"The  Anaerobic  Bacteria  of  the  Human  Intestine."    Abstract  in  Proc. 
loth  Ann.  Conf.  on  Home  Economics,  Lake   Placid,  pp.   137-138, 
July  6-10,  1908. 
"  "The  Fecal  Bacteria  of  Healthy  Men.     Part  I.     Introduction  and  Di- 

rect   Quantitative    Observations."     Jour,    of    Infectious    Diseases, 
Vol.  6,  No.  2,  pp.  123-169,  April  i,  1909. 
Marquis,  F.  W. — 

"Dynamometer  Car  of  the  University  of  Illinois  and  the  Illinois  Cen- 
tral   Railroad   Company."     Railroad   Age   Gazette,   Feb.    19,    1909. 
(3000) 
Miller,  G.  A. — 

"Transitive  Groups  of  Degree  p  =  2q  +  i,  p  and  q  Being  Prime  Num- 

(209) 


86 

bers."  Quarterly  Jour,  of  Mathematics,  Cambridge,  England,  Vol. 
39,  May,  1908. 

"  "Generalization   of     Positive   and     Negative     Numbers."       American 

Mathematical  Monthly,  Springfield,  Mo.,  Vol.  15,  July,  1908. 

"  "On  Multiple   Holmorphs  of  a  Group."  Mathematische  Annalen,  Leip- 

zig, Germany,  Vol.  66,  August,  1908. 

"  "Definitions  of  the  Term     Mathematics."       American     Mathematical 

Monthly,  Vol.  15,  November,  1908. 

"  "Ansv^rer  to  a  Question  Raised  by  Cayley  as  Regards  a  Property  of 

Abstract  Groups."  Bull,  of  the  Amer.  Mathematical  Soc,  N.  Y., 
Vol.  15,  November.  1908. 

"  "On  the  Groups  Generated  by  Two  Operators  Satisfying  the  Condi- 

tion Si  S2=S2"^  81-^.     ibid,  J^nnarv.  1009. 

"  "The  Sixtieth  meeting  of  the  American  Association  for  the  Advance- 

ment of  Science."  Bull,  of  the  Amer.  Mathematical  Soc,  March, 
1909. 

"  "Groups  in  Which  the  Subgroups  Which  Involve  All  the  Substitutions 

Omitting  a  Given  Letter  are  Regular."  Prace  Matematyczno- 
Fizycgne,  Warsaw,  Russia,  1908. 

"  "On   the   Definition   of  an  Angle."     School    Science   and   I^L^thematics, 

Chicago,  Vol.   9,   January,   1909. 

Miller,  G.  A. — 

"The  American  Association  for  the  Advancement  of  Science;  Section 

A — Mathematics  ind  Astronomy."     Science,  N.  Y.,  January,  1909. 
"  "On   the   Central   of   a   Group."     Trans,   of   the   Amer.   Mathematical 

Soc,  N.  Y.,  January,  1909. 
"  "Method  to  Determine   Primitive  Roots  of  a  Number."  Amer.  Jour. 

of  Mathematics,  John  Hopkins  University,  January.  1909. 
"  "Groups  of  Subtraction  and  Division  and  Hyperbolic  Functions."  Math- 

matical   Gazette,  London,  December,   iqaS. 
"  "Classification  of  Mathematics."    Popular  Science  Monthly,  N.  Y.,  Vol. 

73,  October,  1908. 
"  "The  Possible  Abstract  Groups  of  the  Ten  Orders  1909-1919."  .\mcr. 

Mathematical  Monthly,  Vol.  16,  February,   1909. 
"  "Finite  Groups  Which  May  Be  Defined  by  Two  Operators  Satisfying 

Two  Conditions."  Amer.  Jour,  of  Mathematics,  Vol.  31.  April,  1909. 

Moore,  H.  F. — 

"Autographic  Recorder  for  Rapid  Tension  Testing."     Amer.  Soc    for 
Testing  Materials,  June,  1908. 

MOOREHEAD,  FREDERICK  B., 

"The  Teaching  of  Oral  Surgery  in  the  Modern  College  of  Dentistry." 
Proc  Amer.  Inst,  of  Dental  Pedagogies  for  1908-1909. 
MOSIER,  J.  G. — 

"Washing  of  Soils  and  Methods  of  Prevention."     Circular  119.  16  pp. 

(210) 


87 


MOSIER,  J.  G. — 

"  "Laboratory  Manual   for  Soil  Physics."     (Revised  Edition)     pp.     64. 

College  of  Agriculture. 
MuMFORD,  Herbert  W. — 

"Beef  Production  in  *he  Argentine  Republic."  Bull,  of  the  Interna- 
tional Bureau  of  the  American  Republics,  Washington,  D.  C, 
August,  1908. 

"Beef  Production  in  the  Argentine."     The  Breeders'  Gazette,  Decem- 
ber, 1908. 
NOYES,  W.  A. — 

"Openings  for  Chemists."     Science,  June  5,  1908.     (900). 

"Chemical  Publications  in  America  in  Relation  to  Chemical  Industry." 
Science,  Aug.  21,  1908;  also  in  Chemical  News,  Aug.  14,  1908. 
(1400) 

"The  Next  Step  in  Publication  for  the  American  Chemical  Society." 
Jour.  Ind.  and  Eng.  Chem.,  March,  1909.     (iioo) 

and  HoMBERGER,  A.  W. — 

"Molecular  Rearrangements  in  the  Camphor  Series,  I.  Hydroxy- 
lauronic  Acid  and  Isocampholactone."  Jour.  Amer.  Chem.  Soc, 
February,  1909.      ;Soo) 

OCHSNER,   A.   J. — 

"Organization,  Construction  and  Management   of   Hospitals."     Second 
Edition,     pp.  654.     Cleveland  Press.  Chicago,   1909. 
"  "Symposium   upon    Pancreatitis."     Jour,   of   Surgery,   Gynecology   and 

Obstetrics,   Chicago,  December,   1908. 
"  "Practical  Notes  on  Malaria."     The  Plexus,  Chicago,  January,  1908. 

"  "Exophthalmic  Goitre   from  the  Standpoint  of  the  Clinical   Surgeon." 

Trans,  of  the  Academy  of  Medicine,  Cleveland,  O.,  April,  1909. 
"  "Surgical  Treatment  of  Gastric  Ulcer."     Trans,  of  the  South  Dakota 

State  Med.  Soc,  September,  1908. 
Paetow,  Louis  J. — 

"The  Neglect  of  the  Ancient  Classics  at  the  Early  Medieval  Univer- 
sities."    Trans,  of  the  Wisconsin  Academy  of  Sciences,  Arts  and 
Letters,  Madison,  W^is.,  16:311,  December,  1908.     (3000) 
Parr,  S.  W.— 

"Ueber    die    Parrsche    Methode    zur    Bestimmung    der    Verbrennungs- 
wasrme   von    Steinkohlen."     Zeitschrift    fuer   angewandte    Chemic, 
June,  1908. 
"  "Weight  of  Carbon  Dioxide  with  a  Table  of     Calculated     Results." 

"Jour,  of  Amer.  Chem.  Soc,  31  :2,  February,  1909. 
"  and  Wheeler,  F.  W.— 

"An  Initial  Coal  Substance  Having  a  Constant  Thermal  Value."     Bull. 
8,  111.    State  Geo).  Survey,  1908. 
"  "Alterations  of  the  Composition  of  Coal  During  Ordinary  Laboratory 

Storage."     Bull.  8,  111.    State  Geol.  Survey,  1908. 
(211) 


88 

Parr,  S.  W.— 

"  "The  Deterioration  of  Coal."    Jour,  of  Ainer.  Cliem.  Soc,  30:6,  June, 

1908. 
"         and  Francis,  C.  K. — 

"Artificial    Modification   of    the   Composition   of    Coal."    Bull.   8,     111. 
State  Geol.  Survey,  1908. 
"  "The  Modification  of  Illinois  Coal  by  Low  Temperature  Distillation." 

Bull.  24,  Eng.  Exp.  Sta.,  University  of  111.,  June,  1908. 
"  and  Hamilton,  N.  D. 

"Weathering  of  Coal.'      Bull.  8,  111.  State  Geol.  Survey,  1908. 
Pi r< COMB,  Helena  M. — 

"Household  Arts  in  the  Public   Schools."     School   News,  Taylorville, 
111.,  Sept.  1908-April,  1909. 
Porter,  J.  L. — 

"Why  Operations  for  Bunion  Fail,  with  a  Description  of  One  That 
Does  Not."  Surgery,  Gynecology  and  Obstetrics,  Chicago,  Janu- 
ary, 1909.     (900) 

Powell,  T.  R. — 

"Judicial  Review  of  Administrative  Action  in  Immigration   Pioceed- 
ings."     Harvard  Law   Review,     Cambridge,     XXII,     pp.     360-366. 
March,  1909.     (3000) 
Provine,  L.  H. — 

"A    Power   House  Foundation."     Technograph,   Univ.   of     111.,     May, 
1909.     (2500) 
Puckner,  W.  a. — 

"Unofficial   Preparations  of  Hydrastis    (Golden  Seal)."  Jour.  .A.M. .A., 
Vol.  51,  No.  I,  July  4.  1908.     (2500) 
"  "The  Use  of  Mercuric  lodid  Solutions  for  Intramuscular  Injections." 

Ibid,  Vol.  52,  No.  7,  Feb.  13,  1909.     (600) 
"  and  Clark,  A.  H. — 

"Estimation  of  Phenol."  Proc.  of  the  Amer.  Pharmaceutical  .Assn.  ji. 
824,  1908.     (3000) 

"  "Examination  of  Tablets  of  Bismuth,  Opium  and  Phenol."     Jour.  A. 

M.  A.,  Vol.  51,  No.  4,  July  25,  1908.     (1000) 
"  "LTnguentine."  Ibid.  Vol.  52,  No.  13,  March  2-j,  1909.     (1400) 

"  "Sodium  Perborate."     Ibid,  Vol.  31,  No.  10,  September  5,  (1600) 

"  and   lliM'KRT.  W.  S. — 

"  "The  Detection  of  Hexamethylenamine  in    Pharmaceutical   Mixtures." 

Jour.  Amer.  Cheni.  Soc,  Vol.  30,  No.  9,  September,  1908.     (1200) 
"  "Zyme-oid."    Jour.  A.  M.  A.,  Vol.  50,  No.  21,  May  2^,  1908.     (1200) 

"  "Uriseptin."     Ibid.,  Vol.  51,  No.  9,  Aug.  29,  1908.     (2000) 

"  "The  Presence  of   Sulphite  in   Commercial   Solutions   of   Superarenal 

Alkaloid."     Ibid.,  Vol.  51,  No.   18,  Oct.  31,   1908.     (750) 
(212) 


89 

PUCKNER,  W.    A. — 

"  "Veronal-Sodium  and  Medinal."     Ibid.,  Vol.  52,  No.  4,  Jan.  23,  1909. 

(350) 
"  "Zinc  Permanganate."     Ibid.,  Vol.  52,  No.  6,  Feb.  6,  1909.     (1500) 

Reitz,  H.  L.— 

"Blaschke's    Vorlesungen    iiel^er    Mathematische    Statistik    (Die    Lehre 
von  den  Statistiscben  Masszahlen)."     Bull.  Amer.  Matb.  Soc,  N. 
Y.,  Dec.  I,  1908.     (700) 
"  "Is  the  Situation  in  Regard  to  tbe  Teaching  of  Algebra  in  the  High 

Schools    of    Illinois    Satisfactory?"      School    Science    and    Mathe- 
matics, Chicago,  June,  1908.     (2700) 
"  and  Shade,  Imogene — 

"Correlation  of  Efficiency  in  Mathematics  and  Efficiency  in  Other  Sub- 
jects :    A  Statistical  Study."    The  University  Studies,  Urbana,  111., 
November,  1908.     20  pp,  3  figs. 
Roberts,  S.  S. — 

"Report   on   Track — Appendix   A,   'Properties   of   the   Split   Switch.' " 
Bull.  No.  108,  American  Railway  Engineering  and  Maintenance  of 
Way  Association,  Chicago,  February,  1909.     (2250) 
"  "Theoretical   vs.    Practical    Switch   Leads."    Bull.   No.    109,   American 

Railway  Engineering  and  Maintenance  of  Way  Association,  Chi- 
cago, March,  1909.     (1800) 
Robinson,  Maurice  H. — 

"The  Legal  Economic  and  Accounting  Principles  Involved  in  the 
Judicial  Determination  of  Railway  Passenger  Rates."  Railroad 
Age  Gazette,  N.  Y.,  XLV,  Nos.  19,  20,  21,  22,  Oct.  9,  16,  23,  30, 
1908.  (Reprinted  from  Yale  Review,  February,  1908.)  (18000) 
Also  in  Railway  Gazette,  London,  XLV,  Nos.  17,  18,  19,  20,  Oct 
23,  30,  Nov.  6,  13,  1908. 
"  "Accounting  in  its  Relation  to  Economics."    The  Jour,  of  Accountancy, 

VII  :4,  February,  1909.     Also  in  American  Economic  Association 
Quarterly,  Boston,  April,  1909.     (4000) 
"  "Accountancy  Education."     Amer.  Assn.  of  Public  Accountants'  Year 

Book,  N.  Y.,  1908.     (1000) 
Savage,  T.  E. — 

"Lower  Paleozoic  Stratigraphy  of  Southwestern  Illinois."  Bull.  No.  8, 
State  Geol.  Survey,  Urbana,  Ill.j  1908.     (6000) 
Sherman,  S.  P. — 

"Forde's  Contribution  to  the  Decadence  of  the  Drama."     Materialien 
zur  Kunde   des   alteren   Englischen   Dramas.     j3and   XXIII,   Lou 
vain,  1908.     (6070) 
"  "A  New  Play  by  John  Ford."     Modern  Language  Notes,  Vol.  XXIII 

No.  8,  Baltimore,  1908.     (1700) 

(213) 


90 

Sherman,  S.  P. — 

"  "Literature   and   the   Graduate    School."     Nation,   Vol.   LXXXVI,    No. 

2237,  May  14,  1908.     (1400) 
"The  Academic."  Nation,  Vol.  LXXXVI,  No.  2242,    June    25,     1908. 
(1200) 
"  "Aspects  of  Individualism."  Nation,  Vol.  LXXXVI,  No.  2244,  July  2, 

1908.     (1200) 
"  "Cosmopolitanism  and  Decadence."    Nation,  Vol.  LXXXVII,  No.  2245, 

July  9,  1908.     (1200) 
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1908.   (1200) 
"Lessons  from  a  French  Novel."     Nation,  Vol.  LXXXVII,  No.  2247, 

July  23,  1908.     (1200) 
"The  Tragic  Sense."     Nation,  Vol.  LXXXVII,  No.  2248.  July  30,  1908. 
(1200) 
"  "Concerning   Orators."     Nation,   Vol.   LXXXVII,   No.    2249,   Aug.    7, 

1908.     (1200) 
"The  Old  Jena  and  the  New."    Nation,  Vol.  LXXXVII,  No.  2252,  Aug. 

27,  1908.     (1200) 
"The  Reading  of  Oiildren."    Nation,  Vol.  LXXXVII,  No.  2257,  Oct.  i, 

1908.  (1200) 

"The  Autobiography  of  Josiah  Flynt."     Nation,  Vol.  LXXXVII  I.  No. 
2278,  Feb.  25,  1908.     (3500) 
"  "The  Liqueur  Magazines."    N.  Y.  Evening  Post,  June  22,  1908.    (1200). 

"  "The  Financial  Status  of  the 'College  Professor."    N.  Y.  Evening  Post, 

July  3,  1908.     (1200) 
"Border  Warfare  of  the  Arts."     N.  Y.  Evening  Post,  July  13,   i9aS. 
(1200) 
"  "Making  a  New  Poet."    N.  Y.  Evening  Post,  July  10,  1908.     (1200) 

"  "The  Higher  Foolishness."     N.  Y.  Evening  Post,  Aug.  6,  1908.   (1200) 

"  "A  Reaction  Against  Coeducation."    N.  Y.  Evening  Post,  Aug.  10,  1908. 

Slippy,  Ralph  B. — 

"The  Establishment  of  Street  Grades."     Proc.  Iowa  Engineering  Soc, 

1909.  (1500) 

"  "The  Surface   Temperature  of     Asphalt     Pavements."       Engineering 

News,  N.  Y.,  61:161,  February  2,  1909.     (300) 

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WiLCZYNSKI,   E.  J. — 

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Williamson,  A.  S. — 

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"A  Fundamental    Invariant  of  the   Discontinuous   Groups   Defined  by 
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(2171 


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